Recently in Goals Category

I'm all prepared for the Ravelympics tomorrow night! I have my patterns, yarn, and needles. I've had the projects picked out for weeks now and it's been so hard not to CO right. now.

My goal is to knit 2 pairs of socks in 17 days - roughly a pair a week. With President's Day on Monday I'll have 7 weekend days out of the 17 Olympic days. When I say it like that it sounds so simple, right? Piece of cake. Do you convince yourself of craziness like that too?

I purposely selected 2 simple patterns - both are just St st - because I LOVE watching the Olympics and can't imagine needing to keep track of a stitch pattern or read a chart at the same time. Plus, I'd never get two pairs done if they were patterned. Oh yeah, and I'm using stash yarn exclusively.

I'll be representing two teams - Team Tufty from the Sock Knitters Anonymous (SKA) group and Team Knitmore from the Knitmore Girls podcast.

The pair for Paul is St. Peter Port Stripes from Folk Socks by Nancy Bush. Grey for the main color, blue instead of the black stripe, and orange instead of the white stripe. I can't wait to do that little latvian braid!

The pair for me is also a Nancy Bush pattern - Hiiumaa Mismatched Mates from Knitting on the Road. I'm using leftovers from my Baktus (about a half skein of each) of Creatively Dyed Calypso.

Have any of you knit socks out of Calypso? It seems a little thick for my standard sock gauge.

Almost exactly 24 hours until CO. Are you ready yet?

My first FO of the year.

Pattern Child's First Sock in Shell Pattern from Knitting Vintage Socks by Nancy Bush
Yarn Tess Yarns Supersock and Baby approx 370 yards
Needles 1-24" US 1.5 (2.5mm) circ

For a relatively simple sock I did a lot of frogging - the ribbing, the short row heel (the first time I didn't center it), and an unnecessary attempt to add mini gussets above the heel (I didn't need extra fabric afterall).

Mods

• My first CO was too tight to go up far enough on my calf. Since I liked the fabric I got on the 1.5's I didn't want to go up a needle size, so I added one more rep on the leg.


• I did a short row heel with 10 sts left unworked


• I reduced down the extra leg rep by working mini gussets of 6 sts per side


• Nancy's toe is more pointy than mine is. I was feeling nostalgic so I wanted to try her toe but I'll stick with mine from now on.

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This FO helps me with three goals for 2010 as well - stash yarn (why was this in my stash for FOUR years?!?), neglected pattern books (I can't believe I never got around to making a design out of this book), and knitting more socks. I also knit this as a part of the Sock Knitters Anonymous January Challenge (btw, what an *awesome* group).

I have 3 pairs planned for February - my two Olympic pairs (more on that later this week) and my SKA February challenge. My goal is to knit 5 pairs before Maryland, and with these I'll be at 4. I have a few sock UFOs too and they'll count as well so I should be all set for Maryland.

Who else is in the Olympics this year?

Don't you just love how renewed and full of possibilities the new year brings? Opportunities for growth, self-improvement, learning, and just plain getting more out of life.

2009 was a year for big change in my life and I feel like I'm a better person because of it. During the latter half of the year I focused on changes to improve my quality of life.

For 2010 I want to continue focusing on quality of life by getting the most out of each day, and by setting some long-term goals that will have lasting effect.

Here are some of my goals:

• Continue my "lose 10 pounds per year". I've lost 21.5 in the past 2 years! While it's slow, with periods of months where I'm either not losing (or even gaining a few) this is the first time I've been able to sustain weight loss. I don't feel like I'm on a diet. I feel like I'm learning how to live more healthy and balanced life. I should note here that I fought very hard *not* to change this year's goal to 20. I know it goes against everything I wrote about this but I'd love to lose an extra 10. I'm not changing my goal because I'm more afraid to fail because I set the bar too high. But I still want to lose 20 ;)
• Start yoga. I sustained a nerve injury back in May and it's been very slow to heal. I've read that stretching and flexibility can help and yoga seemed like a great choice. I've signed up for a beginning yoga class by work, and starting next Tuesday I go twice a week for four weeks.
• Cook more. I love to cook, love to learn new techniques, and it beats getting take out any day. It's so much easier to know what I'm eating if I've made it and leftovers are great for lunches. And it doesn't hurt that it's far cheaper than eating out at restaurants all the time.
• Be more committed to UFOs. I think I have around 10 UFOs (projects that I'd like to use once they're finished). The call to start something new is so hard to resist. One thing I've found recently to help is starting a quick project when I get the start bug. I recently finished a Star Crossed Beret and a pair of French Press Slippers. They were relatively quick and both from stash yarn. They fed my need to start something but were done quickly enough that I didn't lose interest and it helped me get back to one of my other WIPs.

• Rediscover what I already have.
  • Break open some older books. I've joined the Neglected Pattern Challenge in the Ravelry Stash Knit Down group. It will encourage me to look at books, magazines and downloadable patterns that I already have. My goal is to knit 10 things from this group in 2010.
  • Continue to destash. I have (mostly) a great stash, but like many of you shiny, new yarn is so much more appealing. I did another inventory in November and have been tracking the stash ever since. Just having those numbers in front of me help a lot. And let's face it, I have a ridiculous amount of stash. See the latest numbers on the sidebar, or the month-by-month tracking on my stash page.
  • Focus on sock yarn. I love sock yarn, but wow I've gone a little crazy with the sock yarn stash. I have enough sock yarn for approximately 65 pairs of socks and I've only completed about a dozen pairs (I have lots more UFOs though). My goal is simple - to have less sock yarn at the end of the year than I do now. That should be doable, especially if I'm holding myself accountable here on the blog.

So what about you? What are your 2010 goals?

I've made a conscious effort to set attainable goals this year. Goals that I will be proud to have achieved, but also goals that I believe I can achieve with hard work and commitment. I'll be doing an update post each month because I need the periodic check-in to keep myself on track.

Enjoy the long weekend...I'll be spending some time on each my goals.