Since this Friday is our last Random Acts of Kindness post, I thought I’d do my 2011 Resolutions post today. There’s nothing quite like putting them out there in public for posterity. As usual, I have three categories – the Completely Do-Able (these are the most fun and it makes you feel good to check some off the list as accomplished), the Challenging (these are the good ones that make you work a little bit to accomplish them), and the Nearly Impossible (but hey, it could happen. Write it down and give it a try.)
First, here’s how I did on my 2010 Resolutions:
Completely Do-Able:
1. Buy more knitting bags. (Yes. I did.)
2. Significantly increase my stash in case of future economic woes. (Yes. I did.)
Challenging:
1. Increase the number of days a week that I exercise. (Hmm. Well I probably did that overall, but it’s nothing to write home about.)
2. Learn to cook with more vegetables. (Nope.)
Nearly Impossible:
1. Give up knitting. (I did not. That’s why it’s on the “impossible” list. Not that I had any intention of doing it in the first place …)
2. Learn to play the bagpipes. (I did not. Still safely on the impossible list.)
For 2011:
Completely Do-Able:
1. Continue to build my stash with wonderful, luscious yarn.
2. Frog the UFO’s that are no longer appealing to me.
3. Continue to avoid lima beans.
Challenging:
1. Catalog my yarn/pattern/knitting book stashes.
2. Make my Christmas 2011 knitting list in January, and jump into the knitting.
3. Schedule an appointment at Time for Dinner every month (my new favorite place.)
Nearly Impossible:
1. Stop buying knitting books.
2. Learn to read instruction manuals before trying something new.
3. Become a Morning Person instead of a Night Person.
There you have it. We’ll see how I do. Do you have any do-able/challenging/nearly impossible resolutions to share about knitting or life?
Sheri backtoyouonFridaywithourlastRAK’spost
Since I work nights that last one wouldn’t work for me!
For 2011
1. Continue to lose weight – absolutely doable – I lost 50 pounds last year and have another 50 to go
2. Finish UFO’s – doable – I think at this time there are5
3. Stop buying yarn and fiber – um Sheri, that will NEVER happen so why even say it?!? Forget it, I never said it 🙂
4. finish getting out of debt – with any luck, by September this will be a done deal 🙂
This is the kind of New Year’s resolution list I could handle. Why did I always think it had to be self-sacrificing, self-improvement, no-fat, no-fun?!
To reach my goal weight, i lost 50 pound in 2010, 7 to go.
Master playing the dulcimer.
Play more with my spinning wheel
Keep up on interest for daughters school loans. (lol)
Knit hubbys aran murphy cable sweater.
Use more stash (but oh…. too much temptation!)
I agree on number three for 2011 Completely Do-able. I avoid them at all costs. I also tend to avoid peas too. That might be the only thing on my list as I never keep up with the list and then I get side tracked so my list will have one bullet and it is to avoid lima beans at all costs. Thanks Sheri, this is a very do-able New Years resolution list.
Good luck with becoming a morning person. I’m such a night owl and know that I get more done if I go to bed early and get up early but just cannot make myself do it. When we got chickens, I thought that would make me get up early because I have to let them out at daylight but I run out, take care of them and come back in and go back to bed and back to sleep!
Right now I only have 2 goals for 2011.
Get back into exercise. I felt so much better when I was doing more than 3-5 miles of walking in a day.
Finish more knitting than I start. It’s completely doable if I go back through the 20+ items on my Ravelry project page.
challenging: I have made 12 bags full of started socks plus a pair of socks that need mending. the first of each month I will start by doing the darn darning then finish the socks. Some are wonderfully close to finishing and others are woefully only begun. after I finish my required darning and socks, I get to work on other WIPs with an occasional new project thrown in. I’m hoping that accomplishing all those socks will help me finish up those sweaters and shawls that are languishing in my collection of knitting bags!
and think of all those needles I’ll get to put away!! that always makes me feel like I accomplished something. Hate it when I need to rob a pair from something to start another something!
I’m there with you on the lima beans…..big beans are nasty.
I’m going to work out of my stash for awhile – both knitting and cross stitch.
Also, I’m planning a phenominal recovery from my ankle surgery so that I can get back to walking with my husband and our dog. That will help with my ever constant resolution to battle the extra weight.
Well, I went back, and I accomplished neither of my resolutions. I have more knitting bags now, and still none of them are free. 🙂 Oh, well.
So, three categories:
Do-able: eat, knit, and sleep. And snuggle with the pets. And frog some of those UFOs that will never make it to FOs. And finish that pair of socks that only has a few more rows.
Challenging: drop some of this extra 30 lbs I’ve picked up lately. BFF Liz can tell you all about the stress that’s inducing the eating. Also, make headway in the Great House Renovation Project. Cleaning, sorting, tossing, selling, repainting…. That kind of thing. And learn to use my new sewing machine. (Maybe there are more knitting bags in store here?) And finally get that dollhouse built and wired.
Nearly impossible: Win the Lotto. Catch up on the gigantimous pile of laundry.
Yes. I think that’s it….
I llike your idea about froging the UFO’s. I wonder why that is so hard to do. When you know it was a mistake or you simply didn’t like it and you have finished half, but will never, ever finish the other half ……….. why is it so hard to frog it???? It must have something to do with “letting go”.
Well, I mentioned one of my resolutions in Monday’s comments: try to learn to do cables. The challenge may not get done on time, but it was timely!
Do-able: don’t smoke (I don’t do this every year. One success.)
Paint the guest bath.
Challenge: knit cables, finish lace scarf, clean up basement (some more–extension of last year’s resolution)
Nearly impossible: knit up my stash, find more time, keep up with family photos
Good idea, Sheri. I agree on the lima bean avoidance. One vegetable that I really do not like. I will also continue to knit and collect yarn, with enthusiasm. I hope to teach a couple of folks to knit this year. I would like to become comfortable with the Kitchener stitch. This may be one of the more impossible goals.
I hated limas until my mother in law cooked us fresh from her garden baby limas with butter. I converted. Frozen baby limas gently cooked in water then buttered. Honest-they are good.
2011
Do-able:
eat well, love well, enjoy and get stuff done-one thing a day.
Fiber work once a day-just like daily vitamins for my brain.
Take the darn vitamins and take a walk.
Meditate and breathe and pray even for 5 mins a day.
Be grateful.
Challenge: I have 2 ears and one mouth for a reason. Listen twice as much as I talk.
Stop making messes and clean up the messes I do make.
Nearly impossible:
stop getting things done at the last minute. Plan out the time to get “it” done, no matter what “it” is.
My 2011 resolutions
Knit one square a day for sock yarn blanket
Finish my Oregon Cardi
Visit my 90-something year old aunts once a month
Knit one pair of socks from stash yarn every month
DO-ABLE
Give away knitting FO’s that I don’t wear anymore to loving homes.
Knit more socks, because they have come in handy this year (now that menopause is over).
Knit more things to keep my neck and hands warm.
CHALLENGING
Limit my yarn purchases to once a month.
Stop buying knitting needles, I have them everywhere.
Organize my knitting needles. I have them everywhere.
NEARLY IMPOSSIBLE
Give up Coca Cola.
Eat more fiber.
Plant a big veggie garden (don’t count on it).
not going to say lose weight ( I say this every year but nothing lost), but maybe I can stop binging in the evening , or at least acknowledge portion controls.
giving up pasta, that would be sad, I won’t do that, but, I will try to get out more this year, when it is no freezing and cold. I’d rather sit and knit, talk to my kitties, watch a good movie, and stay close to home, so I’ll try go to a social situation once or twice a week. I’m going to include dropping by the senior center in my social efforts. And upping my trips to the gym, I should make better use of my membership fees and go 4 times per week, snow or no snow.
the other would be to use yarn before I buy more, but I know I don’t want to keep that resolution, so maybe knit up 1 skein for every 2 new ones that I buy. It is such a welcome delight to check the mail and see new yarn, colors, textures. (more fun than checking the mail for household bills).
and then, I need to finish stripping wallpaper and paint.
Agreed on the lima beans. The only person I know who will actually eat them is my husband. Question. Why would we want to change from night people to morning people? I can’t knit in the morning, my head is too fuzzy.
I spent this entire Fall dealing with health/illness issues. I am better, but now I need to figure out what my new “normal” will be like (including the use of a wheelchair when I’m out and about). I know that people have successfully gone down this road, it’s just that I’m at the start of it. Therefore, my goals are:
A. Doable: Be able to get my wheelchair in/out of my car, and be able to get out and about in the wheelchair. (Still a challenge, but this one needs to be “doable” so that’s how I’m thinking about it.)
B. Challenging: I’ll be teaching part time this Spring. I want to my best-job-possible.
C. Nearly Impossible: I want to knit myself enough socks to be able to wear a pair everyday of the week. A. and B. make C. nearly impossible, but it would be great to have a real sock wardrobe?
I’m going to do some traveling without waiting for someone to go with me. This is doable because I have already booked a hotel for Sock Summit. (Wish I could come for your Spring Fling, but it is always scheduled right during state testing.)
I’m going to finish some UFO’s. I have two sweaters for my daughter that I have been working on for at least 5 years. I did get one finished up to the lace around the neck. I WILL finish them this year!
Last knitting goal I hope is doable. I have one sock finished for my brother, and about 2 inches on the second. I put it aside during a period of great stress, and now I can’t remember how to do a stitch in the pattern. I even took it to knitting group, and they couldn’t make it look like the first sock. If I can’t get it soon, I may just frog and start a new pattern, but I hope not. He has big feet, and that is a lot of knitting to frog!
Completely Do-Able:
1. For 2010, I feel like I did a great job at managing my UFO’s; I’ll only have a few going into 2011 (2, I think?) I think I’ve proudly proven to myself that I can keep my startitis under control. There are a few UFO’s from years past that I’ve been holding onto & I should finally frog those.
2. Try to knit more things for myself. I knit so much for others that I really don’t have a lot to wear that I’ve made. I love giving to others, but I think it’s fine for me to start making more things for myself.
3. Read more. Instead of having the TV on when mindlessly knitting, I should catch up on more of my reading.
Challenging:
1. I’m going to be away for work for 4 months. I hope that during this time I will be able to keep a healthy meal/ sleep/ workout routine.
2. Three babies are due (so far) in 2011; 1 (boy) in mid January, 1 (boy) in mid March, & 1 (unknown/ don’t want to know) in May; I’m hoping to make 2 baby blankets (Jared Flood Tweed Baby Blankets; 1’s already about 40% done), 2 baby sweaters (both Baby Yours), a set of 4-5 petal bibs (would those work for a baby boy too? Hmmmm….), and then probably another baby sweater in one of the petal bibs colors- I’m not completely decided yet on the bibs/ last sweater
3. Try to clean the house in sections each day, so that a little gets done everyday, the house remains clean, the task remains managable, and I don’t feel as though a lot knitting time has been stolen.
Nearly Impossible:
1. Try to limit my stash-buying? I’m positive I will have zero luck with this one.
2. Organize that area…. That awful area in the house that I pretend doesn’t exist because it’s so overwhelming, unorganized, and out of control. Deep breaths…..
3. Make 2 pairs of socks/ month….. Yeesh, with all of the babies being born, I’ll be lucky if I can make 6 pairs this year!
Doable:
1. Find a new job. ( I lose my current job on January 4th).
2. Don’t buy any yarn for a year (with exceptions…birthday, holidays, a nice sunny day etc.) and use up some of my huge stash.
3. Make “stuff” for me instead of giving everything away.
4. Inventory all my yarn…needles are already done.
5. Start a walking regime.
Challenging:
1. Not buying yarn for a year. Sticking to the exception rule which really is very limiting…birthday, special events and 2 “free” days in the year)
2. Making stuff for myself…I love giving. However I just bought a wonderful group of yarn from Loopy to make a shawl for myself. I’m starting it tomorrow!
3. Walking everyday. I have Degenerative Disc Disease and everything is painful but I want to try and put off getting a cane and I think walking may help.
4. I’d love to attend a Sock Workshop Weekend in Oregon this year. It all depends on the $$
Impossible:
1. Nothing is impossible at this point. Even though I’m starting the new year without a job I still have good feelings about 2011. Also I try to not set myself up for failure.
As a “PollyAnna” note to all of you…life is as you make it and see it. There are wonderful people all around you and you never know when you will bump into them. I have been truely blessed this year….it’s been a weird year but I wouldn’t trade it for anything. Happy 2011 to all of you!
In 2011 I’m going to reduce the amount of yarn that I buy, but since I just started spinning I already have a way to get around that!
Let’s see… 2011.
Do-able…
1. Spend as much time as possible with my new grandson.
2. Knit more items for my grandson.
3. Laugh more.
Challenging…
1. Finish at least 3 of my UFO’s
2. Limit my coffee intake.. to maybe a cup a day…
3. Enjoy the rest of winter….. (I really don’t like the cold, but know that my attitude is 90% of the problem…)
Nearly Impossible…
1. Switch from Diet Pepsi to Diet Coke. (Yay.. that won’t happen)
2. To not fall asleep at night when watching a movie with the fam….
3. Carry the same purse for the whole year…….
Excited for all that the New Year holds…..
Doable:
1. Knit more from my stash
2. Read more books
Challenging:
1. Eat healthier (NOT lima beans!)
2. Exercise more regularly
3. Clean my house more often
4. Keep up with billing for my business or turn it over to someone else.
Nearly impossible:
1. Reduce chocolate intake.
2. Have a better attitude about winter.
3. Go to bed earlier with consistency.
4. Do ANYTHING consistently.
No disciplined resolutions this year, the goal is to have resolutions of joy to brighten up each day – week – month. Everybody needs pleasant anticipation and have to be disciplined each day, right?
My list of joy :-):
1. Booking my flight to Spring Fling
2. Each Sunday afternoon a tasty piece of cake
3. Learn the Hula Hoop as you can see here:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j46ll2_jR7k
4. Not to be perfect and beautiful like the lady in the video
Happy New Year all around
This challenge inspired me to add “try cables” to my fiber wishlist for 2011. I just ordered some Madeleinetosh DK for my first pair of “Fetching”. Maybe I should put the rest into categories of doableness. 🙂
It’s funny you mention Time for Dinner. We went in a couple weeks ago & bought 6 meals already prepared to give to my niece who just got out of the hospital & took some over to a friend who just broke her ankle. They loved them!!!!
Sheri, you can totally make your Christmas list in January! Have you heard about the Year Long Gift a-Long group on Ravelry? They offer support (with prizes!) for folks getting gift knitting done early. Maybe you want to check it out, or volunteer to be a sponsor? 🙂