101 Things In 1001 Days

“Life is short, and it’s up to you to make it sweet” ~ Sadie Delany

• Begin Date: January 1, 2010
• End Date: September 28, 2012

The Challenge:
Complete 101 preset tasks in a period of 1001 days.

The Criteria:
Tasks must be specific (i.e. no ambiguity in the wording) with a result that is either measurable or clearly defined. Tasks must also be realistic and stretching (i.e. represent some amount of work on your part).

Why 1001 Days?
Many people have created lists in the past – frequently simple challenges such as New Year’s resolutions or a ‘Bucket List’. The key to beating procrastination is to set a deadline that is realistic. 1001 Days (about 2.75 years) is a better period of time than a year, because it allows you several seasons to complete the tasks, which is better for organizing and timing some tasks such as overseas trips, study semesters, or outdoor activities.

Key:

• Italics/Bold = In progress
• Strikethrough = Finished!

New Tricks

1. Run a 5K
2. Run a 10K
3. Run a half-marathon
4. Learn how to roll my kayak reliably
5. Write a short story
6. Learn how to make truffles
7. Learn how to silk screen from my Mom
8. Learn how to trim my bangs myself
9. Take a guitar lesson
10. Take a cake decorating class
11. Learn how to make focaccia bread

Material Girl

1. Buy a summer dress that makes me feel good
2. Buy a party dress suitable for weddings etc. that is NOT black
3. Have Mrs. Blake’s opal ring reset into something I can wear that will remind me of her
4. Get a massage
5. Buy the perfect red lipstick
6. Wear that red lipstick
7. Find an outfit that matches my FM boots so I can actually wear them at least once
8. Buy a pair of sharp scissors for trimming my bangs
9. Put $50 or more into our savings account each month (Began: Jan-2010)
10. Buy a new hairdryer (mine’s at least 20 years old)
11. Learn how to do the “smoky eye” look
12. Wear the “smoky eye” look somewhere

Home Is Where The Heart Is

1. Buy a bench for our front porch
2. Open an IRA
3. Do the paperwork to roll over my PERS account from my old job
4. Paint at least one room in our house a color other than white
5. Plant a vegetable garden
6. Plant dahlias
7. Finish the front garden bed
8. Finish the other front garden bed
9. Plant roses
10. Plant a fruit tree
11. Put up a shelf to hold all our kayak & knitting magazines in their holders
12. Find a place for all my buttons (inside the house, not the garage)
13. Eat dinner off my heirloom china at least once
14. Find archival storage boxes for my heirloom china
15. Organize our closet
16. Clean out and organize the kitchen “junk” drawer
17. Clean up the office
18. Put up a permanent shower rod in the guest bathroom
19. Hire a contractor to put up display cabinets for my fancy china in the dining room
20. Put up a wall cabinet above the toilet in the guest bathroom
21. Finally replace the paper shade over our “bonus” window in our bedroom with something permanent – Completed March 9, 2010: Wood blinds from Lowe’s that match the wood trim on our windowsills
22. Buy an advent calendar with drawers or cubbies for the baby (future holiday traditions)
23. Finally put all our photos into albums where they belong
24. Transfer all our photos in non-archival albums, to archival albums
25. Buy, build, or otherwise create, a headboard for our bed
26. Make a home maintenance schedule of some kind so that I can keep track of the batteries in the smoke detector, furnace filter replacement, etc. on a regular basis

I Made This!

1. Knit R. Darling a pair of thick, warm, house socks
2. Knit R. Darling a hat with earflaps
3. Spin enough yarn to knit a complete item of some kind
4. Knit something from my handspun
5. Re-finish my antique dresser
6. Make a lemon meringue pie from scratch
7. Bake spritz cookies
8. Finally figure out that recipe I have for Dot’s Eggnog cake
9. Try 10 new recipes – (#1 Frango no leite – 1/17/10; #2 Crock Pot Pot Roast – 7/7/10; #3 Grandma’s Rhubarb Cake – 7/26/10; #4 Hot & Cheesy Chicken Casserole 8/31/10; #5 Skillet Lasagna; #6 Baked Shrimp Curry 4/23/11)
10. Finish my copy of the photo album I sent my best college friend 3 years ago for Christmas
11. Build a light box for photographing objects
12. Knit a pair of Fiddlehead Mittens (finally)
13. Enter a photo in the Knitty calendar contest
14. Finish R. Darling’s Aunt D’s felted handbag
15. Make my own fabric at Spoonflower
16. Dye my own yarn
17. Write a knitting pattern
18. Knit my Mom her Fake Isle Earflap hat – Completed November 24, 2010
19. Open an etsy shop
20. Sell something from my etsy shop
21. Learn how to add bust darts to a sweater
22. Knit something that requires steeking
23. Make those recycled Christmas card ornaments I’ve been meaning to make for a couple years
24. Knit 5 things from Interweave Magazine (IK Knits, or Knitscene) – (#1 Chameleon Scarf completed June 9, 2010; #2 Oscilloscope Shawl completed January 9, 2011)
25. Grow a munchkin – Completed February 2, 2010
26. Embroider something
27. Sew a complete project from start to finish
28. Make a temari
29. Knit a Baby Surprise Jacket
30. Knit a vintage pattern
31. Whittle my UFO’s down to, preferably zero, but 3 minimum is acceptable (As of January 1, 2010 I have 10: Chameleon Scarf, Jaywalker Socks, Secrety Squirrel Test Knit Socks, Cabley, Fiddlehead Mittens, Lelah, Lace Edge Jacket, U-Neck Vest, Bitty Baby Sockies, Cherry Fizz) – (First UFO completed June 9, 2010: Chameleon Scarf; 2nd completed: Cherry Fizz; 3rd completed February 16, 2011: Jaywalker Socks)
32. Whittle my stash down to approximately half of what it is at the start of January 2010 (calculation forthcoming)
33. Make 6 things (whether recipes, or crafts) from Martha Stewart
34. Bake a Red Velvet Cake (or cupcakes)
35. Knit a pair of Monkey socks
36. Knit a Clapotis
37. Knit and donate at least 2 afghans (or enough squares to make 2 afghans) to Warm Up America
38. Knit a sweater in pieces so I can learn how to seam and not be intimidated by sweaters constructed like this in the future
39. Knit a sweater using Tuulia Salmela’s “Tailored Sweater” Method

Other Malarky

1. Lose the baby weight
2. Get a checkup
3. Watch a Marilyn Monroe movie
4. Watch a Dirty Harry movie
5. Go snowshoeing
6. Take a photographic history tour of our town with R. Darling (we take the photos)
7. Get my library card (or at least check to see if the one I have still works) – Completed January 22, 2011
8. Fertilize my houseplants
9. Read Lord Of The Flies
10. Take my guitar in and have the strings replaced
11. Go to Stitches
12. Try a mojito
13. Take a vacation