Lessons in Crochet

I am terrible at crochet

A photo posted by Sophie Overett (@sophieoverett) on Apr 15, 2015 at 2:31am PDT

One of my 24 before 25 goals was to learn how to crochet. I took the first step in that last night by attending a class care of Laneway Learning in Brisbane.

It's hard to say why crochet appealed to me. On a surface level, it's really about developing a new skill and having something to pass on. To share with my family, my friends, and the future of them both. It's about being able to make something out of a couple of twists of yarn and a shining hook. I love that. Love the strange, practical poetry of it.

On a deeper level it's harder to talk about. I don't suffer from anxiety - in that way I'm very lucky - but I do suffer from restlessness. I find it very, very hard to relax. My body might yearn to curl up on a couch somewhere, but my mind's always racing, thinking of things I can do, things I can do better, how I can be more, to more people, and that's a pretty exhausting way to be.

The idea of crochet as something that forced me to stop, that required my full attention for a bit over an hour was kind of amazing for that. To have my hands and head occupied around this little weave was refreshing and, at times, pretty frustrating. I made the hilarious little bit of knit you can see above before my friend and I gave up on it and just made braided friendship bracelets which, y'know. Winning.

Anyway, I'm planning on keeping up with it. Who knows, maybe one day I'll manage the double crochet stitch.

24 Things Before 25

I turned 24 on the weekend! Have a lame selfie.

On a related note, one of my favourite bloggers, The Clueless Girl's Guide, regularly does lists of goals on her birthday of things to do before her next one. I've always loved the idea, so, here we go!

1. Adjust my writing routine to one I can keep on top of better. I've been really slack lately and I think a big part of it is over-planning of time and not, y'know, doing it as often as I should be.

2. Keep a journal. I used  to keep one back in highschool, but dropped off in my late teens. I've really regretted it, and would love to get back into the swing of it.

3. Read all the Jane Austen books! I'm not so far off this. I've read Pride & Prejudice and Northanger Abbey, both of which I adore, and it leaves Sense & Sensibility, Persuasion, Mansfield Park and Emma.

4. Start going to the Farmers' Market for my fruit and veg fix! Hopefully to the one in King George Square which I can do in my lunch break at work oorrr to the Rocklea Markets one with my friend, Meagan.

5. On a similar note, start a plant pot herb garden.

6. And learn how to make macaroons from scratch.

7. Finish the first real draft of The Rabbits. This is long overdue as I have about a million half-finished ones sitting on my harddrive. I've actually got some time to do it as well as I've been awarded a 10-day residency at the Katharine Susannah Prichard Writers Centre in December for the manuscript.

8. Go to a writers festival for the festival. I've been to Brisbane Writers Festival, Emerging Writers Festival and National Young Writers Festival, but every time, I've been working. I'd love to go solely as a participant soon.

9. Finish up to at least Year 5 on The Oscars Project and blog about it here.

10. Take a life drawing class and start going to art sessions again.

11. And, on that note, submit some of my art to a journal.

12. Get a tattoo. I've been toying with one since my last year of school which was, jeez, seven years ago now. I feel like if I've been thinking about it that long, I'm probably prepared to commit to it.

13. Start watching The X-Files. This might sound really dumb, but it's something I've never seen and something everyone tells me I'll love. Time to bump it up the list, methinks.

14. Finish a full-length screenplay. I've got three screenplays I've been playing with lately, and would love to take the plunge and finish one.

15. On that note, I want to make a short film too.

16. Move out on my own. This is probably one of the bigger, scarier ones, but I've been sharehousing for five years and am spending a bit of downtime at my Dad's at the moment with the intent of moving out on my own by the end of the year.

17. Read lots! And start actually finishing some of the manga and graphic novel series' I've started.

18. Do one professional development course or workshop. Whether this is for writer Sophie or cultural producer Sophie.

19. Go to a state I haven't been to before. As far as my Australian travel goes, it's pretty bad. I've only ever been to Queensland, New South Wales and Victoria, leaving ACT, Western Australia, Tasmania, South Australia and Northern Territory still to visit!

20. Go overseas. Somewhere! Anywhere! Just expose myself to a new place, a new culture. I've been dreaming of South East Asia - Cambodia, Laos, Vietnam, Malaysia and Thailand for the last few years, so it'd be amazing to make that happen in 2014 / 2015.

21. Stay on top of my personal inbox! I can be so slack with this!

22. Visit my sister in Boggabri. She moved out there a year and a half ago, but it's so expensive for me to get out there. This year though, I'm hoping to road trip it down to try and curb some of the cost.

23. Create a productive and inspiring workspace for myself. This one will probably have to wait until I achieve #16, but I have faith!

24. Learn how to crochet.

A few of these I know are happening already - going interstate for example, and starting drawing classes again, but I'm going to keep my fingers crossed I can start and maintain the rest before I'm 25!

How about you? Do you set goals on your birthday?