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December knitting and January goals

We seem to have a problem with our wifi at home, so I'm having to post this at work. Grrrr.

I did quite well last month, managing to complete six out of seven goals.

My december goals.
1) Take photos of Secret of the Stole.  I consider this done, though none of the photos did the stole justice. I'm sitting here at work wearing this as a scarf.

 

2) Finish Bee Fields Shawl. Done!

3) Finish Autumn Leaves (gasp!)

Not done.  But the body's finished, and I've started the first sleeve.

4) Finish my plain, Parfait socks. Done!

5) Start a new garment! Done! I've actually finished the knitting on this, just need to sew in ends and find some matching buttons. I only have a photo of Isola with one arm finished..

6) Knit a beaded baby cardigan - Done!  But not a beaded cardigan. I went for a Louisa Harding one from her Enchanted Garden book. Iced Gem.

7) Do a few strips of the Picnic Blanket (Debbie Abrahams). Done!  (Well, one strip anyway).

Not bad!

An extra too, a pair of fingerless gloves, from Louisa Harding's latest accessory book.

January knitting goals.

This year I'll have several long term projects, which will be features of my monthly goals for most of the year. 

1) keep up with the Mystery Blanket knit, from Debbie Abrahams (yarn due any day!) which involves 5 squares per month.

2) knit at 6 squares on the Picnic blanket (69 to go!) - this way I might finish it this year.

3) knit a pair of socks.  This month's socks will be plain and for me.

4) I've started the Modern Quilt using Kid Silk Haze. This consists of 36 large mitred squares (and roughly 12 of these large mitred squares are made up of 4 smaller ones). I want this knitted up before the summer, so I'm including this in my monthly goals, wi
th a steep knitting  goal: knit 12 large mitred squares per month.

5) sew in ends and find buttons for Isola.

6) Knit on my WIP of the month:  Autumn Leaves Cardigan.  Really, I'm going to try to finish this.

7) Start something new.  Problably something small, as I've got loads to do for January! 

2008 New Year's Resolutions.

Hmmm
I just checked my 2007 resolutions and realise that I didn't do too well, despite only having FOUR to adhere to!

2007 Knitting Resolutions

• 1) Knit more texture
  All of those cables!
• 2) Stashbusting is Good
  i) knit from stash ii) use the 2 out - 1 in rule: knit up 2 lots of socks/lace/garment's worth of yarn in order to purchase 1 lot of socks/lace/garment's worth of yarn iii) exclusions are major yarn expeditions, gifts, and knit-it-now purchases
• 3) Keep the wips down!
  Five or less!
• 4) Sort out needles, books and yarn stash
  Organised stashes = less time hunting down the elusive book/needles/yarn = more knitting time = less ££ spent on buying unnecessary replacements.

1) no cables for 2007 - a complete failure!
2) stashbusting was abysmal 
3) wips - not quite 5 all year, but I have kept them down to manageable levels.
4) nope, due to us moving to the stash flat with NO SPACE I just haven't managed to do this.  It's bad enough hunting for which yarn bag/box to open without trying to get the whole lot out!

So < trumpets please>  here's my 2008 list

1) Really, really try to control the stash.  This is my major resolution. I'm going to log the yardage throughout the year this time. I'm sticking to the 2 out - 1 in rule from 2007 resolutions.
Exceptions - major yarn expeditions, gifts, knit-it-now purchases.
*** oops!  see below!
2) Knit a few more garments in 2008. At least six!

3) No more mystery shawl knitalongs. Instead, try to knit from my pattern and book stash. I have so many wonderful shawl patterns which I just haven't had time to knit up yet.  Half of last year's shawls were from mystery kals, I'm a sucker for a mystery.

4) which brings me to another mystery knitalong - the Debbie Abrahams Mystery Blanket!  I am fully committed to this one knitalong for 2008 which is why I've included it in my resoltion list. I want to keep up with the  monthly quota! Karin has started a ravelry group for this, so if you're participating please join us. BTW, there's  no point in joining if you're not in the club as the pattern is exclusive to paying participants. It would be pretty boring for you!

5) try to log the stash.  This might take a whole year!


Control the stash, knit more garments, knit more shawls from my pattern stash, keep up with Debbie's Mystery Blanket knitalong and log the stash.  Easy peasy?

*** oops!  January 1st and I've already succumbed!  I couldn't resist Elann's Highland wool in sport weight. It's quite difficult to get over here and I really want to knit the cover design on IK's winter issue, the Refined Aran.

In knitting news, I started off 2008 with just the Autumn Leaves cardigan and Picnic Blanket on the needles.  But I've started something new today!  More on knitting in a few days. I'm back at work tomorrow, so the posts will be less frequent. I resisted the urge from NaBloPoMo to do a whole year of blogging!

Happy New Year!