Goal Check in – February

It’s mid-February and time for a check in on my goals. Every year I post goals and then I…don’t talk about them. I’m changing that this year.
I blogged about my goals in early January. Here’s a recap and where I’m at now.

• Continue with weight loss. I increased last year’s goal to 15 pounds and I only got to 7. I struggled for a while with this but I need to remember – I’m still 7 pounds less than I was a year ago, and slow weight loss stays off. I’m going to reset my yearly goal to 10. I’ve lost 2 pounds so far this year.
• Always have a commuting-friendly project OTN.I’ve always had something to work on while on the train. But, I want to make sure I always have a sock OTN. Sometimes I’m just not up to thinking after a long day at work, and a simple sock is more my speed.
• Shop my stash first, but don’t make it a chore. If I have a great idea and the stash can’t support it, allow myself to buy without the guilt. I’ve added to this goal that I want to have more sock yarn FOs – one per month. I did Lintilla in January, and plan to have my grey jacquard socks done this month. BTW the pic up top is most of my sock yarn. Just in case the scale isn’t clear, that’s a 56 quart container. That’s a whole lot of sock yarn.
• Continue working on weeknight meals. I still need to find my groove with that.I’ve been working on this one differently. Instead of cooking during the week, I’ve been making a big meal each Sunday that works for lunches and reheated dinners. So far I’ve done meatballs, meatloaf and stuffed peppers. The meatloaf and stuffed pepper recipes were great. I’ll do a post on my mods as well. For today, we’re doing a chicken dish. The Sunday cooking just fits better in our lifestyle right now.
• Figure out how to make sewing more a part of my weekly crafting. I have a hard time working sewing into my life. Knitting is just so portable and stop and go, but sewing is so instant gratification. I need to find the sweet spot for sewing.No progress on this one yet. I don’t see this happening for a while. And I’m OK with that.

This week’s shiny objects:

• Yarniacs – the new podcast on the block. I try a lot of podcasts but don’t often write about them because they just don’t hit the mark for me. This one really does! They’ve done 3 episodes so far and it really feels like I could hang out with Gayle and Sharlene. They’re yarn-obsessed, chat about new designs and what they’re working on now and have an active knitting fantasy life. You know, just like the rest of us.
• New book! A Handknit Romance by Jennie Atkinson – The designer of the famous butterfly dress in 2005 has released a book filled with frilly garments and lacey details.
• An awesome new pullover design with assymetrical cables, feminine shaping and even a pocket. Really unique and it’s currently in pattern testing.