2012 In Sight

Every year I say: I am not going to make resolutions or goals. And I do it anyway!

I have come to accept that goal making, having to-do lists (which in reality is what a yearly list of goals), is part of who I am. No list, no goals ... no forward progress.

So a short look backward seems appropriate now.

In 2011 I had these simple ideas:

• Get focused - Who the heck knows if I achieved that!
• Use 5,000 yards of yarn - I had an embarrassing amount of yarn in January 2011. It is more embarrassing now. (Retail therapy is a terrible thing.) I used about 4,000 yards of yarn this year but since I obtained about 22,000 yards of new stuff, I lost ground. I enjoyed every minute of getting it, however. Yarn collector! That is what I am.
• Get Spinning - *sigh* - I suspect this was not a good year to establish new hobby habits.
• Get Weaving - better success there. I finished a hand loom weaving project for my mom, a scarf for me, and I have a Weave-It blanket about 1/3 complete. But I didn't make much progress on my new rigid hettle loom.
• Complete Yarn Projects - here I accomplished more than I thought. I finished 1 pair of socks, but I ripped out the partially made sweater. I made Milo his dog sweater and completed both a shawl for mom and a sweater for me. I also finished some wash clothes and two brain slugs.

So as far as planned achievements go, I did ok. What is not showing on this list is all the stuff I plowed through with mom. Thank God I couldn't see into the future to add all that stuff to my yearly to-do list. I would have just closed up shop and left the country.

This year I am keeping it simple again - 3 goals.

• Get Walking - I want to walk 1000 miles in 2012. While that number seems like a very big number, it isn't. Based on 3 miles a day, I could 1100 miles. I know initially I will miss some days and probably not even do 3 miles, but as the weeks pass I should be able to do more and reach that goal. And to that end, I have placed a little walking person at the top of my blog. It will help me stay focused on moving forward.
• Keep knitting, weaving, spinning - stay connected to crafting so my emotional life doesn't stagnate like it did this past year. Five completed projects of something would be nice. Oh, and use 5,000 yards of yarn.
• Empty Nesters - with mom's move to a new residence, our lives are changing. Some space within our home and our life has opened up. Hard to know what to-dos will evolve from this massive change, but it is a goal I recognize as important this year. Initially I have gained back a little living space. Mom's bedroom in my home is still hers. Even though she cannot physically reach that space, it contains the important things of her life that she chose not to take with her to assisted living. But her den has now become my new craft space. Too soon to report on that effort, but I hope to sometime in January. We are still sorting through the clutter (yes, I still have tons of it - even after the massive clean outs of 2011). New motto: Less is More (except for yarn, of course.)

So the "to-do girl" with the lists and goals still lives on. I am glad to see she still can look forward.