Happy New Year!

Welcome to the new year, a time to reflect on the past year and a time for new beginnings.  I want to remember and be grateful for the good in the past year, let go of the bad, and make plans for the new.

Overall, 2011 was a very good year for me!  I had my left hip replaced in March and my right hip replaced in May.  That may not seem like cause for celebration to many people, but my life is so much better for it.  I have so much less pain and I get around  much better now (not perfect, but better).  Also, 2011 is the year that I finally took the step to start selling some of my handmade items and original pattern designs!  I won't be making it to the pages of Forbes anytime soon, but I am enjoying the experience, and that counts for a lot to me.

As for the not so good things that I will be leaving in the past year, there is the very slow and painful recovery of the 2 surgeries.  I have to give credit to the Angels of Hibard Nursing Home, who did their best to give me comfort and encouragement as I healed.  I can't really think of anything else bad to try to get over, so I will again state that it must have been a very good year!

Moving on, I have very high expectations for 2012.  I am working with a vocational rehab program to try to get back to working.  I am desperately looking for a car that is reliable, safe and within my meager price range.  I want to keep selling on Etsy and see what else I can learn or develop in my crafting repertoire.  Also, I want to go back to school.  Going back to school is probably a long shot since I don't have transportation or money, but it doesn't cost anything to dream!

Now, you may have been expecting a list of resolutions in this blog, so I will try not to disappoint you.  I really dislike that I usually fail at these, so I am going to try to make them "reasonable" resolutions.

1. Lose 25 more pounds. (I'm trying to be reasonable here)
2. Blog at least 3 times per week. (realistically, once per week would be an improvement)
3. Learn to steek! (it scares me)
4. Complete my SIL's afghan that I started around 3 years ago.

I guess that is as much as I am willing to list and possibly publicly fail at.  So, how was the past year for you?  What are you hoping for in the new year?  Please leave me a comment so that we can all work together toward our goals!  Happy Creativity to you all.

HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!

Wow! Was I surprised when I saw the date on the last post. I bet you can guess that I was thinking of new year resolutions and suddenly my neglected blog entered my mind. I would like to say that I am going to post at least once per week this year, but more realistically, I am hoping I will at least post once per month. Please nudge me if I get behind.

This past week my sister came over to my apartment to help me reorganize and rearrange my craft area. My apartment is very small so it was beginning to take over the place. Once we unloaded all my stuff, we moved a shelving unit and found black mold. UGH. The unit had been against an exterior wall and apparently it had blocked the heat from getting behind it, permitting condensation to collect on the wall.

For 3 days I had everything strewn around my living room, while I bleached the wall. Then maintenance came over and cleaned it too. Next they put a sealant over the area and finally they repainted. My living room has now been rearranged so that nothing is against the exterior walls. I purged a lot of acrylic yarn and some other craft items that hadn't been used in a long time. For me, purging meant that they went to my sisters craft closet. LOL.

FROG OR FINISH?

During this process we discovered a plethora of UFOs and WIPs. I think I startled my sister with the number of them. The decision now is whether to frog or finish the projects. Today I have frogged 2 of them. There are 3 projects that I am still undecided on and 7 projects that I am determined to complete before I start any more new ones.

Do you have any crafting related resolutions?

Happy New Year and New Crafting!

Hello! I am still here. I am sorry that I have been MIA for so long. I have been very preoccupied by my recovery from my surgery, and the new eating habits that I have had to learn. Everything is fine and going pretty well. If you are interested in reading about it in more detail, my weight loss blog is Beverly's Journey. Now, on to the yarny stuff!

Since my last post I did complete several projects, but I didn't take any pictures. (Sorry, I just haven't been very good about pictures and blogging lately, but I will try to be better for the new year.) They were gifted to my nieces and nephews for Christmas. I made 3 pairs of socks and 4 pairs of mittens to go with the project that I had already posted. I did not complete all of the gifts that I had planned this year. So, I had to purchase 2 hat and mitten sets! Oh, the shame of it all.

I am currently working on a project for my apartment manager. After seeing some of the socks that I have made, she asked if I could make a pair of men's size 13 boot socks for her husband. She brought over some worsted weight wool that she said she purchased in Canada. It is unlabeled, but feels like 100% wool in a 2 ply woolen preparation. It is a kind of "crunchy" texture to the yarn, and I can feel the lanolin in it. I think that these will be extremely warm socks.

I will make a resolution to post at least once per week on this blog. Please check back and keep me on the straight and narrow.

Resolutions?

Nope. Not me. I don't do resolutions, of that I am very resolute. But I do think about it, and think about it, and...well, you get the idea. The reason I don't make these resolutions is that it feels like I am setting myself up to fail. I prefer to just set small goals throughout the year.

For those of you who are making resolutions there are several "trackers" to help you keep your resolve and assess your progress. Life Hacker lists some guidelines on how to make resolutions that are achievable, as well as posting a compilation of many of these trackers for you.

One thing I do enjoy this time of year is hearing about my friends resolutions and why they decided on them. Just because the process doesn't work for me, doesn't mean it won't work for others, so I wish everyone good luck! I hope that you will leave me a comment about some of your New Years Resolutions.

Lastly, I want to wish everyone a happy, healthy, peaceful, prosperous and safe new year.