I made some knitting resolutions at the start of 2010:

1. Stashdown – cut down on yarn purchases by using stashed yarn and frogging unused FOs.

2. Mindfulness – plan projects more carefully to avoid starting many but finishing few projects.

3. Colourwork – knit at least one FO using stranded colourwork.

So how did I get on? I frogged some unused FOs (and half finished projects) but I failed miserably in stashing down. I ended the year with a bigger stash, but I don’t feel too bad about this. There are worse crimes and I know it will get used eventually. I tried to plan projects more carefully, but all too often I got distracted by the thrill of the new and ended up with too many projects on the needles. Still, enthusiasm is no bad thing. Finally, I tried and failed to master colourwork. Oh dear.

Let’s have a look at my completed projects. In 2009, I finished only 9 projects. I did better in 2010 with 18 finished items. I think 2010 can be described as the year of shawls, socks and monsters.

1. Mara 2. First toe up socks 3. Clothilde

4. Toe up socks for a poorly foot 5. Earth socks 6. Peter the Duck

7. Multnomah 8. Swallowtail Shawl 9. Springtime Bandit

10. Anais 11. Ishbel 12. Melville

13. Scroll Lace Shawl 14. Travelling Woman 15. Toasty

16. Granville 17. Central Park Hoodie 18. Norm

The items I’ve worn the most are the Central Park Hoodie, which has kept me very cosy this winter and the Springtime Bandit which is like wearing a lovely, soft blanket. OH wears the socks I made for him. The monsters are still a source of joy to their human guardians.

2010 brought some crafting successes: I catalogued my yarn in Ravelry (finally); I learned to knit socks from the toe up; I took part in Knitting and Crochet Blog Week and I learned to cross stitch. However, I failed to complete the 10 shawls in 2010 challenge. I made 8 shawls, then ran out of steam. I’m not beating myself up about this. I started to resent making shawl after shawl when actually I wanted to be working on other things. In 2011, I’m going to let myself have fun with my crafting and make whatever I fancy.

I have made some crafting resolutions for 2011, but I’m going to look on them as aspirations rather than rules:

1. I will try to learn colourwork this year.

2. I will continue with cross stitch and photography, as well as knitting.

3. I will learn a new craft – card making.

My only other resolution is to tackle the mountain of bills and receipts waiting to be shredded in the corner of my living room.

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