Pay it Forward '11 Reflection

In January of last year, Facebook had a Pay It Forward Project meme going around.I'm a bit late in getting this done, but better late than never. I wanted to write up something on the five Pay it Forward projects that I finished in the last year.

The idea was simple:

Pay it forward 2011: I promise to send something handmade to the first 5 people who leave a comment. They must in turn post this and send something they made to the first 5 people who comment on their status. The rules are that....it must be handmade by you and it must be delivered sometime in 2011.In the midst of completing and gifting the projects I started to think about it all.

And I wanted to collect the links for all the projects into one place.
MP1: 11's Sonic Screwdriver (completed: June 15, 2011 ; gifted: June 18, 2011)
MP2: Anti-Possession Mitts (complete: July14, 2011 ; gifted: August 1, 2011 )
MP3: Gates of Greyhaven (completed: June 26, 2011 ; gifted: July 23, 2011 )
MP4: Grape Wurm (completed December 25, 2011: ; gifted: January 2-5, 2012 )
MP5: Blueschief (completed: July 1, 2011 ; gifted: August 21, 2011)

All posts related to Pay it Forward '11.

It was fun picking patterns and yarn to go with the patterns that I felt reflected the recipient. I put thought into the pattern choice. I also put thought into the yarn choice be it color or fiber.

Overall, the project helped me get a lot of knitting done. It also helped me delve deeper into the fiber world. I ended up visiting a proper knitting store for the first time. That was a fun experience. It made me wish that there was a knitting store closer to home. Also, it would be nice if there were little cozy cafes near by that I could sit in to knit, read, or write from time to time. The main stream never has the same feel that the little independent stores did when I was at college. Though I didn't get around to visiting them too often.

Speaking of reading, I was inspired by a fellow tumblrite, Airiz, in her post about the gathering of her top books of the year. (Her blog is fantastic btw.) It was something that made me realize that I had stopped keeping track of the books I'd read, what I felt about them, how long it had taken me to read, and other such things. I miss making my list and seeing what I read and how it coincides with my life. I read a lot in high school and through college, but the habit fell by the wayside before I graduated. This year, I would like to start it up again and keep track of everything. Hopefully I'll be able to post about some of the books here and encourage reading.

So this year, I'd like to complete a few knitting projects that have been languishing on my needles. I would like to put a dent in my stash of yearn before buying anymore *crosses fingers* I have enough projects and yarn pairings to get my through for a bit. And I'd like to read. Be it from a physical book, on either of my Kindles, or an audiobook while knitting away. I want to get back to doing more things that will relax me and help to keep the stress levels low.

Of course, I hopefully will put a major dent in my MBA course load as well. But like I said, taking the time to read for pleasure is something I haven't been really consistent on in the last few years. I'd also like to try and read things outside of my usual fantasy novels. I want to read more classics, maybe some non-fiction, or other authors that had previously caught my eye but I'd never gotten around to picking up their books.

Let this be a year of knitting comforting projects and reading.