Happy New Year - Work in Progress

Back last February I posted on my friend's blog some goals for 2010.  I thought it would be fun to revisit those and see how close I came.

1. read at least two serious books a month - I call this accomplished. I read a lot of really good books this year and not just silly books.
2. finish the sweater for me and make a sweater for my sister - I finished my sweater, but my sister and I have not yet reached closure on what I'm going to make for her. She wants a knitted blanket, and I'd rather make her a quilt if I'm going to go large and flat.
3. finish my scrap clearing project and get at least three quilts out of it - I got one large quilt, one wallhanging, and a pillow... hmmm
4. Make the two or three charity quilts that are sitting in the sewing room glaring balefully at me - done
5. Be a gracious volunteer chair for the guild's show and then not volunteer for the next time - I so enjoyed being the volunteer chair for the show this year that I've already volunteered for next time.
6. Finish the quilted wall hanging in time for the show - done
7. Think really hard about making one or two quilts for the raffle at the hospital - The large scrap quilt will be for the next fundraiser at the hospital - done
8. Get good at spinning with the spindle - err, nope, not even close, but I am getting better at it. Last week, I realized that I'm still spinning very thick yarn, but it is getting more even.
9. Lose 15 pounds - ha! I haven't even gone near the scale since the summer.
10. Stop being so goal oriented - Yeah, right!

Before I get to the goals for 2011, some pictures of kitty cats! First off, the Brat Cat LOVES the new footstool (and matching seat cushion):

Since Hubby hasn't yet gotten around to using this as a footstool, I have moved it over next to his chair, and the cats have figured out that when they are on the stool, they are at the perfect height for Daddy-style cuddling. At least three of them have taken advantage of that; of course the Brat thinks its hers, and she's made her displeasure known...

After finishing the baby jacket, I swatched for and cast on the Every Way Wrap from Interweave Knits Fall of 2009. I started it last year around this time, but the yarn I was using was really wrong for the project - the stitches simply got lost in all of the color changes and the fuzziness of the yarn. So, I'm using a crisper yarn with simpler color changes (Malabrigo Rios in Teal, in case you are wondering), and I'm making it on Size 7 (4.5 mm) needles, which means my gauge is way off (21 stitches per 4 inches, instead of the 16 noted in the pattern). Because of the nature of the pattern, though, I feel comfortable just going up to the maximum number of cast-on stitches and winging it from there.

The next picture was taken just this morning when I was feeding the cats. The Princess Kitty gets a bit imperious when I'm not moving fast enough, but in this picture, she's just annoyed that I keep flashing the bright light in her face instead of putting her dish down.

And now, here are my goals for 2011:

1. Continue reading serious books - there is so much to learn!
2. Read up on and attend some meetings regarding the drain commission and its work.* 
3. Get good at spinning with the spindle, smoothing out the yarn and making it thinner.
4. Be a gracious volunteer coordinator for the guild's weekend of workshops at the end of July.
5. Do not volunteer to make soul-sucking quilts - if they hurt to make, maybe they shouldn't be made.
6. Finish the Cone Nebula quilt.
7. Play with screen printing and other techniques.
8. Finish the Every Way Wrap and make other fun-to-knit projects
9. Post here at least twice a week - Wednesdays and Saturdays

Of course, there are assumptions here that I'll continue to be a very good employee, continue to try to be a good wife, figure out the whole church thing (do I just keep drifting along because I cannot imagine not being part of that community?), and feed the cats twice a day while cleaning their boxes once a day. These are all things that don't need to be listed, right?

Do you have goals for the coming year? What are they? How do you know when you've accomplished them?

*We went to a funeral home last evening for the husband of a friend of ours. I had never met the man, but he was a landscape architect who was responsible for a lot of the public landscape in our area. After looking at his projects and talking to one of his colleagues for quite a while, I really want to learn more.