2007 and all that.

Happy New Year to you all! I hope that however bad or good 2007 was to you that 2008 is as good, or better. :-)

2007 was a pretty average to grotty year for us, starting with five months of ongoing house repairs and ending with the poor cat getting killed. I hope that 2008 is better, though I know for a fact there are going to be more house repairs!

I did do a post back at the start of January last year, laying out my Resolutions for the year ahead. It's been quite interesting looking back on them and seeing which ones I had sucess with.

1) Lose 2 stone (28 lbs.) Yup, did that. There's been a bit of backsliding over the last month, but I've lost a total of 35 lbs in all. So in 2008 I intend to go for another 28 lbs.

2) Knit and spin from stash. Ahem. Don't make me laugh here over the non-sucess of THAT one! So for this year, I'm just going to try and do this up till SkipNorth, which is at the start of March this year. Two months of knitting and spinning from stash, okay?

3)Dump another 10% of contents of house. Well, I think I did. Trouble is, we just keep buying things so there isn't much visible difference in the total mass! So this year I'll aim for another 10%, just to keep the status quo.

4) Spend 10% more time (non-craft time, that is) on me. Actually, this one was a resounding failure. I'm still sitting here with unshaved legs and unpainted toenails! Will try harder this year.

5)Spend more time at allotment. Nope, this one didn't work well either. I'm still considering giving the allotment up totally if I can't crack this one this year. It's a waste of time keeping a badly run allotment when someone else could be using it. So I here declare that if I can't get this one under control by the next AGM, in November, I'm going to turn in my keys.

6) More exercise. Hmmmm...not a great sucess either! Will try harder.

7)I resolve to improve our recycling routine this year. Yup, did that. Plenty room for more improvement though.

8)Finally I resolve to cut down my spending by 10%, on both the household shopping and my own personal budget. Yes, I think I managed that for most of the year, except over the last couple of months during the run up to Christmas and over the sales. I had a great budget sucess with The Storecupboard Challenge in November even though I didn't keep to the strict criteria I first laid out. I am going to start that one again next Monday, when the kids go back to school. Plenty of Christmas leftovers here to use up.

I didn't make any resolutions on the knitting front, but over the year I did set myself a couple of small challenges which I have managed to succed with. I did my NaKniSweMo sweater, and I also decided to knit one pair of socks per month, which I am currently on track with.

So for 2008? Well, the Resolutions last year were good ones, and I'm going to keep them ongoing ones. Plus I'm going to make one more.

9) I am going to become a faster knitter. Well, it's the only way to deal with The Stash, no? Part of that will include trying to improve my actual knitting technique, from being a slowpoke thrower to ...well, a faster style of throwing. I can do the Continental technique already, but it's a step too far for this knitter, sorry. It mucks up my "reading" of the knitting too much. So a faster version of my usual is in order, I think.
Also I'm just going to be more organised about what I'm doing. I find one simple small project (socks!!) in the car/handbag very useful for spare moments, and having one complicated + one autopilot project to choose from in the house also works well. So three in all. Currently I have a lace scarf, a Noro waistcoat and an almost finished baby sweater on the needles. Quite enough.

I need a January Sock pattern though. I want to use the yarn Yvette sent me for winning her sock Contest, as it's in suitably frosty January colours. Then I can cast on as soon as I finish the baby sweater. I have to finish the baby sweater for Hubby to take to work next Monday (it's for the baby of a work collegue) so plenty of time to finish both it and start the socks.

In the meantime though, it's the first Laundry Day of 2008. Some things never change, do they?