Back Home and End of January

Well we are back from our quick vacation but have to admit that it felt so good even to be away for only a few days. We left Wednesday and got back Friday but it was time that we needed to spend together.

I didn't get as much completed as I would have liked to do but I think relaxing and spending time walking outside was more important. I did finish two more soap savers so that did help my monthly total.

I looked at my goals for each month and of course I met some of the goals but I didn't meet some of the others so I guess I need to work hard on those items in February. I didn't make any cool ties or complete any pants or slippers but considering everything else I finished in January I shouldn't complain. The slippers just need to be sewn together so I should be able to make up for none in January with lots in February.

Right now I am typing this blog on my new little computer which is wonderful. It's only 2.5 pounds with a 9 inch screen so it means I can take it with me where ever we go so when I have thoughts I will be able to write them on the computer instead of using little pieces of paper like I normally do.

It's almost time to call it quits for the day and say goodbye to January so I best get moving and finish up on the computer.

Snow, snow and more snow

Today was one of those days where all I saw was snow. Yes we did leave for our couple of days away but it also meant that we were driving through lots and lots of snow.

I was able to get a bit of crocheting done on the drive so that did make me feel a little better and since getting to the hotel I have been able to finish 4 soap savers. I brought all of the unfinished soap savers and slippers with me so will see how many I actually get completed before we are back home. Here is a picture of a couple of the soap savers that are now finished.


It's always fun traveling because I always pack way too much yarn to bring with me but at least then I have different projects that I can work on. Right now I have some boa for scarves, some yarn for hats and yarn for slippers. I think I may also have some yarn that I don't know that I will make with it with me so see I have lots considering I will be back home on Friday.

The snow has finally stopped and we got about 15 cm (6 inches). Tomorrow going to spend some time going for a nice long walk and then out for a nice dinner with my husband before I curl up to work on the various projects.

It's almost time to call it quits for the night so I better get off the computer and see if I can get at least one more soap saver sewn together.

Knitting results

For those of you that asked yes I completed the 7 hats. I actually dropped off the hats on Friday last week which was good. To complete the 7th hat I actually sat there and finished it.

I haven't got a lot to show since then as I have been knitting but not finishing projects other than a couple of boa scarves. I am hoping that by the end of the month to have some soap savers/sacks completed and maybe even some slippers. I figure if I can just sit and work on them I should be able to get quite a few done.

I may not post for the next couple of days as we are escaping the cold weather to relax and spend some time together.

I will post what I completed once we are back home.

Knitting continues

I am still working on hats for one charity for the store and now have 5 hats completed and two more on the go. I have also finished one scarf so I think by Saturday I should have the 7 hats knit that I have wanted to do.

I am so looking forward to Saturday after I finished these hats so that I can get back to finishing off a number of things that I have on the go. I figure if I work hard I should have really good results for completed items for January. Now let's hope that I don't start a few more projects before I finish some of the ones that I just need to sew up.

The yarn that I am using is a very pale yellow so it isn't very exciting so will be very happy to see the end of this yarn. I figure I may have enough to make one or two more hats after this and I will probably try and get them done before the end of the month as well.

My stash doesn't seem to be going down very quickly and I know that I have purchased quite a bit of yarn this month so of course that means I haven't used any really from my stash. I think I need to try and work through what I have for a while otherwise I will never achieve one of my goals for this year of getting my stash down.

Now it's time to get back to knitting so that I can get these hats finished and then get the other items finished as the month is flying by and my completed pile seems to be very small.

Too many projects

I was finally getting my projects under control when I got an e-mail last week from a store saying that you could get some yarn for free if you completed one item for charity by this Saturday. Well you can imagine that I wanted to see how it worked. Last Friday we went to the store and you simply had to pick up a bag of yarn and then use some of this yarn to make one item for charity. The item could be a hat, a scarf or a pair of mittens. I figured that wasn't too bad to accomplish in a week.

As of me writing this post I have completed three hats and am currently working on a fourth hat for this charity. I figure what I am going to try and do is do at least one hat a day between when I picked up the yarn and when I drop off the items next Saturday. This does help me use up the yarn that a picked up because it was three balls of 170 gram worsted weigh yarn. I have finished one ball of yarn and will at least get another ball finished if I work hard.

This project has resulted me in putting all my other projects on hold for a week so that I can see how many items I can complete for this one charity in a week.

I hope that I can at least use up a lot of the yarn that I picked up last Saturday so that it doesn't impact my stash too much. People laugh when I tell them that I currently have more yarn than my husband weighs and I know that it is at least 40 - 50 pounds more than he weighs. My biggest goal is to now start using up some of this yarn as quickly as possible and see how many items I can complete in one year. I currently have a number of projects that just need to be completed so hopefully my completed list for January will be very good.

I better get back to knitting so that I can get lots completed before the end of the month.

1st week of January

This week I have been busy with some knitting and crocheting but so far don't have anything finished. I have lots of knitting but now I just need to sit down and sew things together.

I continue to work on soap savers and slippers. I am looking forward to getting things completed so that I can put them in the box that I will be sending off to the soldiers. This week I also spent part of a day cutting out more cool ties so now to sit down and sew them together. I am going to have to figure out how many I have to make so that I can kind of put a schedule together to get them completed.

It's been fun working on different things this week so hopefully by the end of the weekend I will have some things finished so that I can update my list of things completed.

Hope to write about things accomplished by the end of the weekend. Off to knitting I go.

New Year and New Goals

It's hard to believe but it is already the 4th of January and I have been trying to figure out some of my goals for 2009. My biggest goal is to find a new job and then continue to enjoy crafting.

Here are some goals for this year:

Monthly goals:

• make 5 cool ties soldiers
• make 2 pairs of infant pants
  
• make 2 pair of slippers for soldiers
  
• make 2 soap savers for soldiers
• make 2 headbands for soldier
• complete 2 other items for charity during the month

Yearly goals:

• Complete needlecase from Creative Festival 2008
• Complete first dragon encounter from Creative Festival 2008
  
• Knit sweater for myself (purchased yarn with Christmas money)
• Complete Camelot miniature cross-stitch from Creative Festival 2008
• Finish afghan for us (started in 2006
• Compete at the Markham Fair in October 2009
• Get yarn stash down by at least 15 pounds by December 2009
  

So these are some of the items that I would like to achieve this year and as you can see there are craft related. I have other goals for 2009 but have not posted them above. Now my other goals are:

• Do my final driving test and pass it
• Lose at least 25 pounds (30 would be better)
• Get more organized
• Take at least 2 courses job related
• Design a course for crafting

Now that I have written these items down maybe it will help me achieve some of them. I know that some are going to take some time to achieve but others shouldn't take me too long. Well better get to work on achieving some of these goals.