some goals for the new year (including not turning into a crazy person)

last year i posted a list of my crafty goals for the year and, well, let's just say i didn't do the best job fulfilling them.  the one goal that i did succeed the most at was making time to be creative everyday.  sometimes that creativity took place in the kitchen, sometimes it was behind a camera, but over the course of last year it most often involved knitting needles.  (also, to give myself due credit, i did keep my stationery collection well-stocked and well-used).

even if i didn't manage to re-cover the plaid loveseat or hang up any of my photographs (i'm still working on that one, frames are expensive!), i am proud of the projects that i did complete (which included fourteen knitting projects!), and i'm chalking that up to a change in my priorities.  when i made my list early last year, i didn't have any idea how strongly my love for knitting would be re-kindled.  amanda recently wrote this ode to knitting and it really struck a chord with me.  last weekend, i found myself in between knitting projects, and lacking the necessary needles to get started on my next project.  people, i went a whole day without knitting a stitch and it apparently drove me batty.  sometimes we just need an outlet for all that electricity that's buzzing inside of us.  sometimes we need a little yarn to bring us back down to earth.

so, with the caveat that my creative interests might take me in a totally different direction as the year moves along, here are some of my crafty goals for 2011....

}knit a pair of socks. i'm already in progress with this project, so it almost feels like cheating.  but who doesn't like to start a list with something that's already done, just to have something to cross off? (and for the record, these are nowhere near done.  and it'll be awhile before they are, on account of the size 0 needles).

}make a pair of pants.  i have been holding onto a pattern for a while now and i think this is the year to dive in.  i have a few friends who i think are in it with me this year, so we'll see how it goes.

}make at least one quilt.  hopefully two.  i know, this sounds insane.  but for this one, i really do have some friends who are in it with me and i'm actually hoping to have a quilt top completed and ready for quilting in a little over a month.  wish me luck.

}get started (and hopefully finish) an alabama stitch skirt.  i've ordered the fabric and am hoping to get to this as soon as the first quilt is done.  i know this will take a while too, and the stitching of the skirt will be in direct competition with quilting those quilts, but we'll just have to wait and see who wins that match.

}knit a sweater for jared.  he has finally agreed to let me knit him a sweater! as soon as he gave in a teeny bit, i hopped on ravelry and faved six different sweaters in the style he agreed to (a zip-up cardigan).  for this one, i'm hoping to at least get it started by the end of the year, even if it's not finished.

okay, that is a whole lot of large projects.  not to mention working full-time, continuing to fix up our house and starting to think about my garden for this year, and planning that wedding (which of course will have its own set of crafty projects too!).  so, i'm well aware that not all of these will get done, but thinking about them (and starting at least some of them) makes me happy.  the important thing is not to let the things that make you happy stress you out and to let go of what you know you just can't do.  otherwise, you turn into a crazy person.  and no one wants that.

And don't forget, there's still time to enter the giveaway for More Last Minute Knitted Gifts.  Leave a comment on my last post by Sunday at midnight and I'll announce the winner on Monday!