Tuesday, 7 March 2017

Needlework Tuesday - Not Quite a Bullet Journal, but it's mine

 My regular readers know that I am trying to be more organized this year and that has led me to Bullet Journalling.  It is au courant  in all things regarding agendas and journals.  There are videos and websites devoted to how to do this.  Don't anyone tell me I am doing it wrong.  I am exploring to find what works for me, which in my opinion, is the value of this type of journal.

The ones in the stores don't suit my needs which cross all sorts of areas and interests. This first one while include a lot of trial and error, though by the time I'm ready for a next book, I'll have a much better idea of what I want and need.

First of all, buy a book with good quality paper. This one was cheap and the paper is rather thin.  It is recommended to choose one with a dotted grid making it easy to go free-form and to add sketches if needed.  The silver bows are from gift boxes I received recently and were too pretty to throw out.

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 Number all the pages in your book.

I started out with a To Do list.  Note that I have only 5 items on it.  This is a realistic amount to be considering.  If I'd put any more on it, every time I looked at it I would be overwhelmed.
(I had to include the pen to give the camera something to focus on, it was going nuts with all the white).
 I should have put the index first, oh well, it will still work.  I have left two facing pages for it.  If I run out, I'll add another index page further in the book and will make the final entry on these pages, the page number of the new index.   For now, I am using two facing pages for a project.  If I find I need more, then no problem, turn to the next available page and continue being sure to note the new page number in the index.
 Most important pages for me and the weekly pages.  I put the dates of the week and then list what I am planning to work on including any items that weren't completed the week before.  When I accomplish a goal, out come the pretty stickers.  If my goal was to knit a little each day, then I put a sticker each day I knit, otherwise, a sticker for finishing.

I write realistic goals.  I don't say "Finish quilt", instead I break it down to pieces such as: cut background fabrics, cut contrast fabric, piece block A's, attach binding, make and attach label.  Each are more easily achievable goals.

In the left hand margin you can see the actual bullets. Dots, X's and arrows. A dot to list an item, an X to show it's complete and and arrow > to show it is carried forward to the next week.
At the very back of the book I attached an envelope to hold my stickers.

Unlike many people, this is not my daily planner, I use the one on my cell phone. I wanted a book solely for my needlework which seems to take a lot more planning than the rest of my life.

Feel free to share a link to your post about your needlework planner. It doesn't have to be a newly written post, I am curious about what works for you.

 I purchased this gorgeous piece of fleece at Lens Mill in Hawkesville to make more pussy hats for the #P_ssyHatProject. The 40 inch cut should make ten hats.  Daughter is modelling the first one.  The pattern calls for an 11 x 20 inch piece of fabric.  We found that is a bit narrow, and cut the next ones as close to 12 inches wide as possible.   Daughter and friends will be proudly sporting their hats tomorrow for International Women's Day.
 Ever wonder what to do with the tail end on the ruffle scarf you finished.  I use sewing thread to stitch it in.  The piece of yarn shows that I whip the end together, then run a gathering stitch toward the body of the scarf.  The ruffle yarn shown to the left of the whip stitch is cut off.
 Gather the stitches.
 Stitch to the cast off edge of the scarf and voila, no chance that scarf will ever unravel.
A little happy dance, I finished the fittens that I started last week.  To keep the momentum going, I am going to cast on the next pair and they'll be ready to go.  I still have some of this yarn remaining, so am going to start with it and see how far it goes.  If I run out, I think some of the limey green would finish them up nicely.

Needlework Tuesday is a regular weekly post where I share the progress of my various needlework projects over the past week. I enjoy the encouragement that I receive from my readers and in return visit their blogs and cheer them on with theirs. You are welcome to grab the cute little mouse and create your own Needlework Tuesday post. Leave a comment with a link and I'll be sure to visit with you.

Thanks for all your book recommendations last week.  I'll keep them in mind when I'm looking for future reads.

Mister Linky is waiting below for a link to your current needlework 
post.  


5 comments:

Sherrie said...

Hi Heather,
I went searching for info about Bullet Journals after reading your Needlework Tuesday last week. I've started a journal also. I'm not good at keeping a journal, but this one sounds like it could be fun..I've started one and have finished by first tasks today. Love the hat, really cute. Have a great day!

Marie said...

A bullet journal looks like lots of work. I bet it's going to be helpful, though. I might consider one down the road, but for now I like to keep my options open since none of my projects have deadlines.

Organizing for me will be putting some knitting patterns into a binder, especially the ones I've printed from the internet. Currently, they are scattered in the dining room, on my computer desk and beside my knitting chair. I'm losing track of them, so it's time for some organization.

Love the pussy hats and fittens!!

Shelley said...

What are fittens? I need some thing new to knit! I did 14 dishclothes in the past 9 days lol

Lin said...

Hello Heather. I have linked my post about the Taskmaster Journal. So far my version of it is working for me although we were away for a month which means I have only actually been following it for a month. However, it is good to have everything written down and if I manage to get pictures in it of all my finishes for the year it should make interesting reading at the end. xx

Michelle said...

I'd already written a post for tomorrow when I found yours in my Bloglovin feed. I'm really liking the dotted pages of my journal. They're not as distracting as lines and they help me keep things sort of almost straight. Mine has just about everything in it -- quilting, blogging, homeschooling, bills and family stuff. I like having it all in one place.