Thursday, December 31, 2009

Looking back

So, last January, I made a few resolutions... along with the standard "eat better and exercise more" (neither of which I've done overwhelmingly well with this year), I vowed to keep a handle on my stash and contain it to what would fit into my unused (large) suitcase. Well, that didn't go so well either. heh I moved on from the suitcase to more use-friendly shallow bins that would slide under my bed. Here are the contents of one bin:The bins are great since they are only about two skeins deep (or one sock skein on end), thereby eliminating the need to dig to see what I have - I hate digging. So... I bought a few of these bins... then a couple more. Darn DBNY deals! BTW - they're having a good January sale on Cherry Tree Hill yarn. Supposed to start at midnight EST for New Year's but they apparently jumped the gun and it's on now. An no, before you ask... I did NOT buy anything. heh I wanted to but the one yarn that tempted me got sniped by an early shopper catching DBNY's goof of starting the sale hours ahead of schedule meaning I'm sure to not be the only disappointed potential customer. Maybe it's the universe's way of telling me I didn't need that yarn... would have made a gorgeous sweater-jacket though! Ah, well, maybe next year when the stash has been depleted a bit...

I did do well with some of my other resolutions however. I wanted to knit my 2nd pair of socks this year... and I did. My second, third and fourth! All of which I love. =) I also wanted to knit a sweater for myself (my first). That almost made it to completion. It was all finished other than the button bands when I finally admitted that it just wasn't right and decided to frog it. I learned a lot in the process though! Throw in a couple hats, a couple scarves, a couple pairs of fingerless gloves, a few bags and a few small gift items and you have my year of knitting. Not a huge number of FOs, but I'm happy with most of them so it's all good. =) I also did well with my savings goal and even purchased a newer car (yeah, I got a loan, but I put down a good down payment, but dang, haven't had to make a car pmnt in YEARS!) and have enough in the bank to easily move on. That brings me to this coming year...

So, what are my plans for 2010?

  1. Same as last year, I plan to knit only things I want to knit and not what people expect (unless they're the same of course, heh). Makes my knitting time so much more enjoyable!

  2. I've been knitting the past several years now and thoroughly enjoy it, but lately I've been getting an urge to learn to crochet... so this year, I want to learn to crochet, or at least try enough to decide if I like it or not. heh I haven't really crocheted (much more than a chain anyway) since I was maybe 7 or 8. I vaguely remember it being sort of flat and oval-ish. So many knitting patterns have lovely crochet edgings and I've always steered clear of those... until now. =) Plus, it's rumored to be quicker and use more yarn than knitting. haha Good way to make my way through some of my stash???

  3. Stash. Yeah, I need to get a handle on this. I used the excel spreadsheet download on Ravelry and added a couple columns to figure total weight in my stash as well as total yardage. Wow. That's an eye-opener! I knew it was a lot, but dang. I have a several skeins that I have no weight or yardage entered since they were grab bag deals with no info, but most of the stash has info entered into Ravelry so the insane totals are close, just a bit lower than reality. I currently have 104.2 pounds of yarn!! Geez, that's almost as embarrassing as posting MY weight! Adding up the yardage, that's 57.5 miles of yarn!! Yeah, I have issues. Hard to pass up a good deal! Okay, I know I can't/won't go cold-turkey... at least not for long, so my plan is to be sure the yardage/weight IN is no more than half the yardage/weight OUT so my stash will have to shrink. I better get knitting/crocheting!

  4. *sigh* Still trying to clean up my diet and get back on track with regular exercise. I've decided I need to start working out at least 3 days a week (to begin with). I'm also going to really try out a vegan diet finally. I've been wanting to do this for awhile and just haven't made the leap. It's time. And just in time for my birthday!
  5. I'll also be making another big move this year! Back across the country, back where I love to be, back to having my own space. =)

Happy New Year! May yours be filled with fun times andbe better than the last. =)

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