Month in review: January

Setting goals is no good if you’re not going to evaluate your performance on a regular basis. So, hopefully, the last day of each month, I’ll devote a little bit of time to talking about my goals and updating them as needed.

As you might remember, I have two goals for 2011. The first is don’t buy yarn (minus a few caveats). And I have been so so so good about not buying yarn this month. There has been temptation; it has been rebuffed and sent packing! However, my stash did, in fact, grow this month.

One of the caveats to my Yarn Diet rules is that I can accept gifted yarns. And I will. And oh, how I will. This month’s stash enhancement is primarily the cause of the wonderful people that I get to call my friends. And because these lovely people sent me birthday gifts! For example, my friend Amanda sent me these hanks of Aslan Trends Santa Fe.

And Maria sent me some Malabrigo Sock.

Attached to the yarn were two little stitch kitten stitch markers, kittens that resemble my Vera monster. 😀

Elaine spun up some fiber and gave me first dibs on a skein for my birthday, and I chose this lovely Southern Cross Fibres yarn. (Anyone wanting the spinning details… it’s Navajo plied. That’s all I really know.)

I also received the final installments of a sock club from my friend Jen. I was helping her organize all the information in the beginning, so I got to choose yarns that weren’t on the club list. This is her Cheshire Cat colorway. I’m thinking thigh-high socks.

I’m not kidding. Well, I might be kidding, because I have long legs and long feet, and while I think 700+ yards of fingering weight yarn will get me thigh highs, they may just end up as knee highs.

And then there’s the yarn my friend Theresa included as part of my swap package. Cascade Heritage Quatro (you all know how I love the Cascade) in this beautiful blue-green marled color.

The other goal for this month was to knit a pair of socks. This goal met with some fits and starts throughout the month, mostly in the form of yarn debacles and knitting ennui. If you missed the Finished Object post, it’s available here.

The Random Number Generator has determined that next month’s socks are going to be Thelonius, by Cookie A. Anyone want to knit them with me?

So that was my January. Hopefully February is met with less ennui and more knitting (and maybe a little less reading; suspenseful books make going to bed at a reasonable time quite difficult). How’s the year treating you so far?