Weekly Blog
Week of 2/20-2/23 Updates
This week i was able to make significant progress with the designs. the pattern i followed was created by brooke rabideau, (link to her ravelry page here). the reason i wanted to create a base model before following any customization was so that i could make adjustments to the pattern if i saw any. so far, i have decided that i want to make the disign a little smaller, and noted that i had some problems crocheting the legs. one leg i crocheted normally, but the other, i crocheted from the wrong side (sticking the hook in from the outside, not the inside) which led to a slightly different look. i know how to fix this, and i'm glad i found out about these adjustments and problems i was having so i can make the customized gifts quicker and more efficiently.
Next week, i will hopefully be able to find at least two places that want to work with me, and so far i have one almost sorted out, but if i can't get the second place, i may look for a larger variety of places. i think keeping things a little more broad isn't going to hurt, in fact it can be an advantage to the project. my biggest challenge is keeping up with these changes, but that doesn't mean i'm afraid of them, and right now i'm just trying to face them head on.
My personal high from this week was finishing the crochet pattern, as it was more difficult than i expected, but it was rewarding once it was done. a low would be reaching out to different places and getting no response back, because that pushed my work a little back, but it's been a pretty good week so it's not getting to me that much.
Next week, i am going to start writing out an essay on happiness and what goes on in our brains when we feel the emotion. i will also start making the bookmarks en masse to be better prepared when i start getting forms back. lastly, i will continue to reach out to organizations in the community inquiring about their willingness to collaborate in the project.
As a result of working on my senior project this week, i learned about writing professional emails and getting in touch with people. i also learned that the four main chemicals that affect our happiness are dopamine, oxytocin, serotonin, and endorphins. lastly, i was able to improve my crochet knowledge and note the adjustments i will need to make going forward.
Overall, this first week was a little different than what i expected, but i think that unknowingness has been exciting. there are many times where school can feel a bit repetitive, so having something like this is definitely a change in pace. that has been my biggest lesson this week, that sometimes things are going to be a little unexpected, but from that, you might be able to make even better adjustments that you intially planned. i'm excited to see what the upcoming weeks hold and where my project ends up taking me!
Other Updates
To celebrate a good first week of working on my senior project, i decided to go to the mall after school and get some cookies for myself. it had been a while since i went to the mall, and it was nice taking a little break between school and my home life. i also have gained some more motivation to write, which led me to checking my old stories, only to realize younger me had quite possibly the worst way of organizing things. i probably spent 30 minutes just trying to find specific stories, and regrettably, i didn't reorganize it, as that seemed like so much work.