Goals – 2015

Knitting

• Knit 6 pairs of Mystery KAL socks – fun, right?  And I get to use up stash yarn – yeah!  Ok ok I said 6 but there are 7 different yarns – I just couldn’t choose 6.  I’ll use a random number generator to pick a yarn after I’m done with the previous one, and I might fit a few sock WIPs in the middle too.  I have 3 or 4 sock WIPs that I’d like to get done too (and bonus since they’re partly there as well).

• Knit 3 things from stash for the Stash Down KAL
• Finish Paul’s Chicago Bears socks – they were his 2013 socks and I never even started his 2014 socks.  I’m a bad, bad wife.

• Finish Paul’s Pismo hat – he loved his last one and he deserves a new one.  I guess I’m not too terrible of a wife because the whole hat is k1tbl, p1 ribbing.  Oy.
• Finish Raspberry Tart – I’m less than a full sleeve away.

• Add other colors to my knitting – yellow and maybe some blue or green

Blog

• Post twice a week for the next 3 months- I did it for most of December and it was a lot of fun!  It also meant I had to plan more so I could actually have pics to post (especially hard in the dead of winter – it’s pitch black by the time I get home from work).
• Post more recipes and nutrition info – start with twice per month
• Make 20 comments per week on other blogs – I love getting comments and I need to leave more too.

Personal

• FitBit – I got one for Christmas and I have no idea how many steps I do on a regular day (although I suspect my desk job leads to a whole lotta nothing).  I need to move more but right now I don’t even know what “more” is.
• Eat Well – I started eating Gluten Free last month and I want to continue.  I’ve read so much about the benefits of gluten free and I need to give it a good shot (at least 3 months).  To be honest though I haven’t noticed any real change in the way I feel which makes it hard to keep at it.
• Lose 8 pounds – As many of you know, I lost over 70 pounds in the past few years.  This year I stayed stable until after Thanksgiving and then all hell broke loose – I ate dessert (often), I ate more than I needed to at many meals and I made poor choices even when I didn’t overeat.  8 pounds may not seem like a lot but it makes a big difference on a 5’2″ frame.  Losing the 8 pounds will let me prove to myself that I can maintain this weight loss.

Goals – throughout the year

• Check in each month – assess, acknowledge and adjust.  I often do one check in post and then forget.  Keep me honest, k?
• Make an editorial calendar – so I can plan and stay on track for the 2 posts/week

You’ll see I set a timeframe of months for several of the goals.  That 21-day habit thing is a pipe dream and I’m really serious here.   I’m doing this in my professional life and at home too – if I know I want to make a change then I need to actually make the change.

What about you all?  What are your goals?  How are you going to get there?

Have an awesome 2015  and thank you for spending some of your time with me.

I’ll catch you on the purl side.

Tomorrow is the beginning of a new year and all the dreams and wonderment are alive in the knitting community.

This looks like it’s the year of Knit Your Stash (or really, yet another year of Knit Your Stash).  Lots of KALs cropping up:

• My Sister’s Knitter – This is the one that spurred on my excitement (full disclosure, I’m one of the mods).
• Yarniacs 2015 Q1 Stash Down Challenge – knit any pattern you choose from stash yarn
• Plum Dandi Ultimate KAL – knit any sweater pattern by Alicia Plummer or Melissa Schaschwary

Join for camaraderie, support and maybe even a fun prize or two.

I got a little crazy and frogged several WIPs that weren’t getting any love.  New year, clear needles…and omg I have A LOT of 4.0mm needles.

Then, I started tagging patterns and stash that I’d like to use.  Here are a few of my favorite combos:

Briquette in Yowza Whatta Skein in this gorgeous red.  This can triple dip in all three KALs – I want to CO tomorrow but the Plum Dandi KAL starts on January 9th.

Tatu in Tosh Merino Light in Baltic.  I stopped using this yarn because I realized it’d look like I was wearing a suit if I wore it with jeans – and I wear jeans All.The.Time.  I’m going to give overdyeing a try after knitting this one (probably in a spruce green).  Any pointers for overdyeing?

Lace Tiered Skirt in Hempathy.  I’d get a lot of wear out of this one once the weather warms up and both the pattern and the yarn have been in my stash for several years.  Every year I think about it in May and it’s too late to make it worth it for that season so it goes to the backburner.  Time to get this into the FO column.  I’ll probably make mine a bit shorter because at 5’2″ that length will be the oh-so-flattering length of mid-calf.  Yuk.

Inner Peace in Miss Babs Shiruku.  This one was on my Christmas wish list and has to be knit.  And CO tomorrow?

Yowza Weight It Shawl in Yowza Whatta Skein.  I need a simple knit otn for those times when I just want to pick up and go.

Lots of reds and purples with a little blue (and overdyed green?) thrown in too.  My classic colors.  My stash.  No idea what I’ll really finish but it was fun to put the list together.

And I haven’t even talked about the socks – that’s for tomorrow.

I’ll catch you on the purl side…