New year, old ideas

It's the start of a new year and like most I took time to reflect on where my like is and what I want to be doing with it. I've had a rough few days but am coming out on the other side more focused and committed to making some changes for the better. 

I actually began the introspection last summer but then I was focused in my career and my immediate relationships, or lack there of. While most of that work remains ongoing, a work in progress, I've hit a good point to look at some of the holes I created when I backed up and simplified. When I need an escape I turned towards books and let myself get lost in some great stories, and a lot of crappy ones. And I've enjoyed watching tv and movies with my friend and now with my boyfriend. But at the end of the day, while I read and saw lots of creative things, I was not creating anything myself and I was suffering for it. This was especially noticeable when I realized how much joy I got from just preparing a meal from scratch for someone I cared for. 

This brings me back to something I started looking for over five years ago...balance. So I'm bringing back some old hobbies, practices and ideas. Where as the past few years have been focused on fitness and sport, I pushed myself too hard too fast. I let it take up too much of my time and I allowed it to overwhelm my focus

My immediate goal is to bring knitting into my life. To that end, I found a quick, practical project, the mason jar cozy, which I knit up in my spare moments over just a few days. I jumped back into my Ravelry.com site and decided to follow along with a one-a-month shawl group and a 52-in-52 group to keep my motivation up. I'm also going to try knitting a row-a-day temperature scarf that will be a year long project. More to follow but here is my first finished project:

Happy New Year, 2015!