What happened in April?

The blog was a little quiet last month. I'm kind of sorry, and kind of not. Life wasn't extra crazy and we weren't sick, but I put my focus towards something else for April. My writing. April is one of the Camp NaNoWriMo months. Writers can pick what they want to write and their word goal. You can write scripts, non-fiction, poetry. Or you can do what I did, which was edit. I gave myself the goal of editing and moving 60,000 words from a first draft into a second. I ended up having to rewrite several chapters so I probably ended up writing 30,000 words and editing 30,000. 

Yep, I did it. Finished just before 10 last night. I spent most of the weekend at my computer as I was about 11,000 words shy of my goal on Friday. A lot of new chapters, for the new ending, were written on Saturday and Sunday, and a lot of it wasn't very good. But now that the words are written down, I can edit them and make them better. In February, I started editing the first draft and I'd send a couple chapters a week to my sister-in-law to read. By the end of March I only had 11 of 30+ chapters done. It was taking too long and I'd lose momentum if I didn't edit everyday. So I signed up for Camp NaNoWriMo, hoping I'd finish and I did. And I'm pretty thrilled about finishing. Winning for editing feels a lot better than winning for writing 50,000 words in November. I'll be rereading the whole thing starting Wednesday and then I'll be sending it out to some Beta-readers next week. Kind of scary but necessary. May's focus? Catching up on all the knitting and quilting that was ignored in April and researching agents and publishers to send my manuscript too (that's super scary). First up - this blog post and then mending my husband's shorts that have been sitting beside my sewing machine for two weeks.

I finished crocheting this afghan in April. (Ignore my face, I was probably yelling at the 3 year old who was outside with us and getting into trouble.) I used all 9 skeins of yarn I had and then did 3 rounds in blue for a border. Yarn was some acrylic stuff from Michael's that is perfect for afghans. It should hold up really well. And after washing became surprisingly soft.

Feels great wrapped around shoulders.

Got to love how colorful it is.

Back inside the 3 year old and I made sure it was good for snuggling under. It passed. The afghan will be a Christmas gift this year.

Other things that happened in April? My daughter and I marched for Science.

I crocheted a ton of button flowers. There are 72 in this picture if you're looking for an exact number. Only have 12 left to make!

And I have been slowly knitting my Duvessa cowlette. The KAL for this ends on Thursday so I have some knitting to do.

I'm halfway done chart A. Still need to knit charts B and C. So I will be doing that today and tomorrow.

I have several pictures waiting to get posted that I hope to do this week and next. It would be nice to feel caught up (does that ever really happen though?).What have you been up to?

WIP Wednesday - Some Knitting and Dresdens

     Making progress on three projects this week. Trying to stop myself from starting a bunch of other projects - both knitting and quilt projects have been calling me. However, I hope to start a new quilt this week for my son's birthday next month. And Shannon announced her annual Tops, Tanks and Tee KAL. I'm thinking of casting on something for my daughter (for her birthday in June) and maybe a little something for me, if there's time. Here's what I've been working on this week.

     Finished the heel and now I'm playing yarn chicken for the foot. Might have to knit the toe in a different colour. Or make them on the small side and gift them instead of keeping them.

     About halfway done the test knit for Sarah of Imagined Landscapes. There are 2 different patterns on the neck warmer. I'm using the yarn leftover from my Thermal Tunic.

Here's one side (cloisters).

     And the other (droplets). I think both of these patterns would be great by themselves and as I work on it I think about how to adapt the pattern so I could make just a cloisters cowl or just a droplets cowl. 

     And the dresdens have officially distracted me from editing. I made 4 more, 6 in total. My current plan is to have a white background with the middle circles being cut from a variety of solids. 

5 more to go. 

     And the stack of fabrics to the left is for the quilt for my son's birthday. I plan on using Cluck Cluck Sew's Stack n' Whack tutorial (9.5 inch size). 

What have you been working on this week?

And Floyd, or toddler, just went down for a rare nap as I wrote this post so I need to decide what to work on now. Editing? Ironing dresdens and the fabrics for his quilt? Or dishes? I think dishes, ironing and then editing. I wonder why I'm not further along with editing my novel?

Sock Knitting, a Concert and some Editing

     This weekend I spent some time on the couch knitting. Some time at my desk editing. And a few hours at a concert. Overall, a pretty great few days.

    Friday evening I finished the first sock. I decided these are going to be a gift so I made them a little bigger than I would make for myself. Saturday morning I cast on the second sock.

     And here is the second sock compared to the first, this morning. I decided to try and make them match. It seems I'm not far from doing the heel. I haven't done this kind of heel in a while - I've been doing a short-row heel and this one is a heel flap and gusset. I looked in the sock knitting guide I used to teach myself and discovered that I have been picking up the gusset stitches wrong all these years. I won't say what I had been doing, but it wasn't right. I blame that on being a beginner and not really understanding what the book was trying to explain. And I was mainly going by the pictures. This time I read the actual steps and my picked up stitches look much better. 

     Saturday evening I took my daughter, Calliope, to her first real concert. We went and saw the amazing Ani DiFranco. It was my second time seeing her.  We had a great time and I'm so glad I bought the tickets (they were a Christmas present for Calliope). 

    And this month is Camp NaNoWriMo. I wasn't sure whether I was going to participate or not. Camp is not like the NaNoWriMo that takes place in November. For camp you can choose your own word count. You can write a script instead of a novel. Or short stories. Or even edit. I decided to edit. I have a terrible time editing so I am hoping the deadline of April 30th will keep me motivated. I cleared off the corner of my desk (again) and have been working away at the novel I wrote for NaNoWriMo in 2014. The only editing I did on the first day was change the title of the novel but since then I have edited 3 chapters and added over 1,000 words. When I started the novel was just over 69,000 words. I am hoping by the end of the month the novel will be around 90,000 words. I'm going to be taking out/ reworking most of a subplot and I need to decide between one of two endings that I wrote for the novel. 

     And Floyd has been very supportive of my editing. He brought me a cup of tea this morning while I worked. What a good boy.

     My kids are home for Spring break this week so I'm not sure how much crafting will be done. My daughter wants me to teach her how to knit socks but that might be a summer project. 

How was your weekend? And what are your plans for this week?

Still Editing.

I've still been busy this past week editing. I had my mother read the very rough first draft of "Lucy"over the summer and she gave some helpful suggestions. One of them was moving an important part of the plot to earlier in the novel. So part of chapter 10 was moved into chapter 4. That means the next few chapters will need some major editing.

Floyd "helping" me edit. 

And sometimes the editing needs to be set aside so I can use my new yarn swift for the first time and listen to podcasts while Floyd naps.  I love the swift but the screw got stuck after the third hank was wound. Not too happy about that but my husband is going to try and fix it.

Now back to editing.

Finally Editing

     It's that time again. The older kids are in school and I am left alone for most of the day with a toddler for company. The last few weeks of summer vacation I started to get the writing itch. But I didn't want to start something new, I wanted to edit. However, editing takes focus and time and three kids running around the house don't really help with that.

      So I fought the urge and got frustrated that the kids take so much of my time and energy. Then last week I realized I could start planning and get ready for when I would have more time for myself. I made notes of some editing ideas and decided to make a map and some sketches to help me.
I spent some time Thursday and Friday drawing a map of the town my novel takes place in. I then drew an outline of what my main character's house looked like on the inside, since I don't think the layout I have in my rough draft makes sense - especially the second floor.

     Once I was done, I cleared most of the stuff off my bulletin board and put them up. My desk got cleaned off last week as well and once again I have room for my computer and my notes and whatever else I might need. I bought some new pens that I love and I feel ready. Ready to tackle my novel and edit it and make it something I could be really proud of. I know I will have many moments over the next few months that I'll want to throw in the towel and forget that I ever wanted to be a writer but when that happens I want to remember what I feel like today. The desire to write and to share my work.

     I know I don't talk about my writing much on the blog and there's the possibility that might change but not until next year. I have continued my Little Poem Project everyday this year but I have not been sharing it here. I've been brainstorming ideas for what I might want to focus on next year that I can share here on the blog. But for now I'm happy that I've spent time editing or making notes about my novel 5 of the last 6 days.

Drawing of main characters house. 

Sketch of the town. This has been really helpful.

Up on the bulletin board for easy reference while I edit. I've been adding to the map as the characters explore more of the town in the novel.

And here is how I've been editing. I make notes/ edits on my printed out rough draft and then make the changes on the computer. The post-its contain big changes  - full sentences or even a paragraph that I want to add. Each is numbered so I know where in the story it goes. I'm doing a chapter at a time. I might also be watching the U.S. Open.

Only problem with working on the couch. Floyd tries to help.

But at least he gives me kisses.

Making room for editing and Floyd. He's also on my lap while I write this blog post. I guess my lap is more comfortable than a couch for watching tv.

Trying to Edit

I feel like I've been editing my novel for years. This particular round of editing seems to be taking much longer than my last but I've added over 18,000 words so I guess that's why it's taking so long. I've edited 14 of 31 chapters and would like to finish by the end of the month. I've given myself a crazy schedule of editing 2-3 chapters a day but I am already several chapters behind. Each chapter is taking longer than I thought and Floyd isn't really helping.

I try to get some work done while he naps or after he's gone to bed at night, but I also try to sneak in some editing while he watches cartoons. Unfortunately, he thinks he still needs to be with me. 

Floyd getting some cuddles while I try to work.

I tried to put him on my lap, facing the tv so I had two hands for typing...

... but he prefers being up. Got to admit I love the cuddles. 

I was able to finish editing a chapter this morning while he watched Saturday morning cartoons with his big brother. My reward? Writing this blog post. Now back to work, cartoons are done in 15 minutes.