Out With The Old? In With The New?

First, Out With The Old. Here's a recap of last year:

What I Knitted:

ToolMan’s Driving Cap
Barbie Clothes
Queen Anne’s Lace Shawl
Dryer Balls
White Mohair Cowl
LaLa’s Simple Shawl in Sea Wool
Storm Cloud shawlette
Hot water bottle cozy from handspun
LaLa’s Simple Shawl in StitchJones (gifted)
Readers Wrap in Twinkletoes (may be frogged)
Baby Surprise Jacket for trtlbby
Clapotis in BMFA handspun
Socks for me
Bamboo & Ewe socks for ToolMan
Wool socks for ToolMan
Transitions short sleeve cardigan for me
Sample sock for StitchJones
LaLa’s Simple Shawl in Glam Sock Yarn
Swallowtail for me
Yak Hat for ToolMan
Fingerless Mitt (6 pair) for coworkers
Hat for Nic
Scarves (4) for coworkers
Coffee Cup Cozies (12 or 13, I lost count) for coworkers
Felted Bowl for Jane
Elf Hat
Fulled Bags (gifted)


What I Spun:

Lots and lots of yarn in lots and lots of different fibers


New Things I Learned:

Went to a sheep shearing and processed the fleece
Drumcarded batts for the first time
Went to alpaca shearing
Processed and spun the exploded clown fiber


Other Stuff I Did:

Unraveling Sweaters Tutorial
Dryer Balls Tutorial
World Wide Knit In Public Day
World Wide Spin In Public Day
Demonstrated at Multnomah Days
Assisted at Sock Summit


Of course, there's the other stuff that happened last year: Although there were some really great things that happened last year, like Sock Summit, the basket of hearts from Knit Sibs, there were also the really not-so-great things that happened last year. Like ToolMan's heart attack and colon cancer, got a new job in The Big Company and changed offices, Andy Rooney became diabetic, my brothers faced health issues, and I continued battling sarcoidosis. I wasn't sad to see the end of 2009. As far as I'm concerned, it went on way too long.


Now, In With the New. Here's what I've got planned, so far:

Pattern Writing:

There are a couple patterns rolling around in my head that I'd like to get published this year. I signed a contract for one to be in a book, so one of them will be released into the world this year. As for the others, we shall see what develops.


Knitting:

I've cast on a new project: a pair of socks for myself in Bamboo and Ewe. I loved the way it felt when I knitted that pair for ToolMan and decided to make myself a fancy pair in red to wear with my black mary janes. I must have been suffering from temporary insanity because I picked a pattern with . . . are you ready? A 72 row repeat. That's right, A SEVENTY-TWO ROW REPEAT. I started it three times before I quit arsing it up. I thought for a moment, and only a short moment, about knitting them the way I usually do: two at once on separate sets of dpns. Except that in this pattern, the socks are MIRROR IMAGES of each other. So you knit one sock reading the chart from left to right and the other from right to left. Even thinking about doing them at the same time seemed like a big ole' piece of crazy pie that would surely come back to bite me in the ass. So, one at a time it is. Gotta say though, I'm almost to the heel on the first one and it is seriously beautiful.


Spinning:

I'd like to get through a lot of the stash. There are some really luxurious fibers in there that I've been holding onto until I felt I was good enough to spin them. I think I'm ready now.


Blogging:

I've thought about giving up the blog. Not shutting it down or anything, just not being as regular about posting as I have been in the past. Oftentimes it seems that this blog is a lot of self-centered navel-gazing for me. I mean, really, I don't get all that many comments, although when I do, they're great. Usually, when I get to thinking like that, I get some great comment like the last one from Anonymous. Or my Google Analytics Report comes in and shows a bunch of hits from all over the world. Estonia? Really? Do you know how flattered I am that an Estonian knitter (you are a knitter, right?) come to read this? And Iceland? And China? And Japan? And New Zealand? And Brazil? So then I decide that I'll keep it up for awhile more. But really, see that button on the side bar that says "Would it kill you to comment?" I meant that.

My Gall Bladder:

OK, so this is new to the blog but it really should be up there in the Out With The Old. For at least 3 or 4 years, I've had near constant heartburn and reflux. About 3 months ago, nearly everything I ate made me nauseated. We finally figured out it's the dang gall bladder. So, next Thursday morning, out it comes. We'll have to see how that 72-row repeat sock gets along on pain killers.