All I Really Want

All I really want is for the freaking weather to stop.  But I'm sure the "winter sucks" rant is getting boring for some of you.  So let me move on the drivers in New Hampshire.  I realize that I'm from Maine, and I was raised driving in snow storms, where you had to stick your head out the window to see because the windshield wiper had stopped working (which probably says more about the quality of the car I was driving than the storms), and the people driving around me then also knew how to drive in the snow, but seriously?  It's all I can do not to stop my car and smack people for stupidity.  Okay, end rant.  I'll behave now, I promise.  Sort of.  I may or may not be crossing my fingers behind my back.

In fiber news, for those of you not on Facebook, I finished the Vintage Sock last weekend. 

Just one more sock to go.  I did finally get the second one cast on last night and I 've got the leaf sew in the leaf hole, so we're ready to cruise on it, once I finish this blog post.  I did take a quick break in between to make my friend Kate a coffee sleeve in a fabulous fuschia color, that coincidentally matches a scarf she already owns. 

I also worked on my monthly spinning quota for the 2011 Yarn & Fiber Stash Reduction plan.  Good news, I've met the spinning 4 ounces of fiber per month goal for January, February, and most of March.  Bad news, in poking around in my fiber closet, I found a bunch of roving and fiber that I did not remember I had, and which, of course, is not inventoried on my Ravelry account.  Bad news, as I spin it up, my Ravelry inventory count will increase, rather than decrease.  Good news, if I spin it up, it will take less room in the closet.  Trying to think positive here, which as most of you know, is a challenge for me.

In writing news, I hosted a meeting of the Misplaced Modifiers on Saturday, and I think it was productive. The bruschetta stuff Mary Kate brought was amazing.   However, as February was a short month, and I had slacked a bit, I needed to write 3,445 words by the end of the weekend to make February's monthly word goal of 8,000 words.  I managed it, but I'm not sure how good it is.  But I'm working toward the action packed end of the book, as I still have to shoot a couple of characters in it.  As of Sunday, I had 73,475 words and 244 pages.  As I'm shooting for around 100,000 words, I'm pretty excited that I think I'm nearing the end.  I think it may go over a bit, but I'm getting there :)

In health news, I had Monday off and visited the orthopedist and the allergist.  The orthopedist said I have a really bad bone bruise and it would go away eventually, but might take awhile.  The allergist is going to test me for all tree nuts, eggs, soy, peanuts, and a couple of other random things next Monday.  However, I have to stop taking my Zyrtec tomorrow, so I might be miserable the rest of the week.  We'll see how it goes. Shawn took Kiwi to the groomers and got her wings trimmed and her nails de-sharpened.  (She has already resumed sharpening them, the hateful little twerp).  Shawn couldn't resist getting her some new toys.  Here's some gratitious cute Kiwi pictures as well. Kiwi is at this moment sitting on my shoulder attempting to sharpen one of my fingernails.  She's a very odd bird.

I'm fairly pleased that I've made it two months into New Years Resolution Writing Plan and 2011 Yarn & Fiber Stash Reduction Plan, without violating it, and meeting the goals. Hopefully, I can keep a momentum going.  Although, seriously, I'm not going anywhere or doing anything next weekend period, except maybe go to guild. 

Stay tuned for further updates as they come in.

Money That's What I Want

Today I held a private knitting class on fixing errors at my apartment to members of the Concord Knitting Meetup as a fundraiser to help with Lora K's medical bills.  I just want to thank all those who attended and those who made contributions, even though you didn't attend, specifically, Mary T, Mary S, Tracy B, Nancy B, Sarah A, Heather M, Roberta L, Ellen R and Stephanie S.  With all of your help, we were able to raise $550.00.  Woo-hoo!! 

 

Because some members of the Concord group could not attend, there is a second session being planned, so if any other of my knitting friends are interested in attending, please email me and I'll put you on the information list. 

This week has mostly been spent dealing with a difficult week at the office, preparing for the class, cleaning my train wreck of an apartment, and getting snacks made. I also had dinner with some of my former Jetboil co-workers, Kristin and Lisa at Kristin's. It was lovely to see them both.

I did do some writing on Monday, so I now have a grand total of 70,006 words and 232 pages of the yet untitled novel.  I need to write another 3,445 words this month if I'm going to make my monthly goal of 8,000 words until the thing is done.  I wonder how long it will take me to title the novel, when I finish. I haven't thought at all about what to do about that.  Maybe I can brainstorm with the Misplaced Modifiers next week during our monthly meeting.

 
 

In knitting news, I'm only a few rows away from starting to incorporate the leaves into the cuff of the first Vintage Sock.  I'm hoping that I might be able to finish the first sock this weekend, as I have Monday off, with the exception of visiting the orthopedist and the allergist.  I'm also hoping to get some writing in on Monday.

For the rest of the evening and for most of tomorrow though, I plan to do nothing but sit and knit, and I may even have a glass of wine. Maybe two even.

Stay tuned for further updates at this same bat-channel. 

The Hounds of Winter

 

Okay, haven't posted in a while.  I've been a bit aggravated.  Remember the snow rant?  Instead of me repeating the rant, let's just imagine it in your head and increase the intensity by a factor of 8.  So here's pictures of not the last storm, but the last big storm, last Wednesday.  These were taken from the windows where I work.  So of course, when I get home that night, I end up having to shovel a spot out, because god forbid my complex plan for larger storms.  So I sent a email complaint to the complex manager.  Then of course, my karma bites me on the ass, because the following night I spend doing my taxes until late, and when I finally get into bed, I look up and see a wet spot on the ceiling 5 feet long and 1 foot wide or so. So of course it's past 11 pm and I have to call and report it, since there were water bubbles in the ceiling paint.  They tell me to stick a screwdriver through the dry wall and let it drain.  Which was just lovely.  It was a steady stream for about half an hour. The picture is pre-hole punch.  Needless to say I got a whole lot of sleep that night. And of course Shawn was in Minneapolis. No word on when it's going to be fixed.  Shocker. 

So anyway, last weekend (not this past weekend, but the one before that) we had pizza with Mary Kate and Daniel.  Daniel has been experimenting with making pizza dough, and since Mary Kate and I both have dairy issues, he made one using the Daiya vegan cheese.  It was much better than the last time I tried it.  Daniel mixed the cheddar and mozzarella versions together and it definitely made the pizza more cheesy. It was lovely and the crust was really good too.

Last weekend I also managed to do some spinning, working on the second 2 oz roving of the Foxfire Fiber & Designs at Springdelle Farm Hand Painted Cashmere & Tussah Silk Top in colorway Greylock.  I got about half way through the roving, but still it's progress.  I also met my writing 8,000 word goal for January and I now have about 65.451 words.  I'm hoping to have a completed first draft by May.  However, I've been slacking off since, so I have to get it together.

Last Monday I had my doctor's appointment and got set up with a new allergist to ferret out another possible food allergist, and to check out my knee. Good news, my knee cap isn't broken (after having x-rays), bad news, I have to go to an orthopedist to see whether I might have a cartilage tear. Sigh.

This past week, I didn't meet my writing goal. I'm going to try to fit it in sometime this weekend amongst all the myriad other things I have to do.  I did manage to get most of the taxes done while Shawn was in Minneapolis.  I just need to have one more document, and I can pay off most of our cruise we booked for December.  This past weekend was weird.  I did a lot of knitting.  Friday I went to bed early, so of course I woke up at 3:00 am on Saturday.  So I spent most of the day knitting and working on my vintage sock.  There's a picture of the toe leaf, and the toe shaped hole in the toe I had to knit. Then there's the picture of the toe, after I sewed in the leaf.  If I had to do these socks all over again, I'd just knit the toe normally and applique the leaf on the toe.  I think this is a detail that's just too fiddlely and not worth the trouble. 

In other news, Donna D helped me engineer a trade to get around my stash reduction plan rules so that I could get enough Noro Silk Garden in color 8 to do the Kyoto Jacket.  I traded 3 skeins of Noro Silk Garden in color 292 for 6 balls of Donna's Noro Silk Garden in color 8.  So I reduced my Ravelry stash by one type of yarn, my net loss after knitting the jacket will still be 12 skeins as a result of the trade, I didn't buy any yarn, and Donna reduced her stash by 3 skeins of yarn.  Everybody wins! 

Sunday was my birthday, I turned 39.  Shawn and I were going to go out, but it turned out the places he was supposed to call to see if they could accommodate my dairy allergy were all closed, so we just went to Free Range Fish on Second Street and got some lobsters.  I didn't get a sculpture for my birthday.  Just stating that for the record, although Shawn does not read my blog.

That's about it for this segment.  Stay tuned for further updates.

Four Leaf Clover

Okay, be warned, rant beginning.  Snow.  And more snow.  You know, being from Maine, you'd think I'd have some tolerance for the white stuff.  You'd be completely and utterly wrong.  When I was younger, I used to not really mind it, but felt no affection for it. In my early twenties, I could put up with it, although it annoyed me and got in my way. Now, I completely despise it. Seriously, if I never saw another snow flake again in my entire freaking life, I'd be happy.  My mother keeps asking me why I live here, but I hate the heat. The thought of 115 degrees in the summer in Arizona makes my skin crawl too.  Somebody find me a place I can go live that's 70 degrees all year round, and I will be a happy woman.  Rant off.

In other news, I had a really nasty stomach and intestinal flu on Monday and Tuesday.  I didn't feel like knitting what I had on the needles, because it was too complicated and required too much thinking, so I ended up spinning for two days in between flying trips to bathroom, as it requires very little movement and no thinking.  I discovered a potential problem with my stash reduction plan.  Remember when I said not all my fleece, top and roving was in my Ravelry inventory?  Well, as I spin it up, it gets added to Ravelry database, which increases my overall total.  I'm now considering whether to go ahead and inventory everything so that I have a solid number to try to reduce, but I don't know how crazy that is.  In any case, the stuff I spun up this week was not in Ravelry. 

 

I spun up a Grafton Fibers (now Dyak Fibers) multicolor batt, with greens blues and black.  I should have taken a before picture, but I didn't realize I hadn't documented it in Ravelry.  I did a 2-ply, plying from a center pull ball wound from the bobbins, and got this interesting striped effect.  It'll be interesting to knit.

The second roving I spun was a Foxfire Fiber & Designs at Springdelle Farm Hand Painted Cashmere & Tussah Silk Top in colorway Greylock.  I have two of them, each is 2 ounces, and I've spun up one of them.  I used my very, very fine flyer for the Lendrum wheel and spun it very fine.  I Navajo plied it, to preserve the color changes, which results in a 3-ply and it's still not more than a sport weight, although I haven't done the wraps per inch or the McMorran Yarn Balance to determine the yardage. The other reason I chose Navajo plying, is that the singles were so fine that attempting to do a 2-ply from a center pull ball would have been impossible and I would have ended up with a snarled mess. I could have tried to even the bobbins up to do a 2-ply from the bobbins, but I hate doing that. 

With respect to the 2011 Yarn and Fiber Stash Reduction Plan's goal of spinning 4 ounces per month, I've completed January and February's required totals and I'm working on the goal for March.  I'd like to continue to spin more than the plan requires, but I figure this will give me a safety valve if I end up having a bad month later on.

In knitting news, I finished the leaves for the Vintage Sock last night.  All 34 are complete.  I started the toe for the sock, which is my first toe up sock.  It had been a long time since I had tried the cast on method used, so it took me three tries before I got it moving.  I'm about to start making the hole for the inlaid leaves.  The directions I thought were fairly unclear. I had to read them 4 times before I got what the heck she was talking about, and then it was late, so I decided that I might need to tackle them with a slightly less tired brain.  We'll see how it goes today.  This morning I blocked the leaves so the two toe leaves would be ready when I needed them. Right now I'm doing it on two circulars, but I'm going to move a twelve inch circular as soon as I can.  

I've also encountered another dilemma with my stash reduction plan.  I found a great pattern, which you can find here, if you have a Ravelry account.  I have yarn, Noro Silk Garden, that would be perfect.  However, I only have 9 balls of it, not the 15 I need.  I bought the pattern already, but I'm still debating whether it's permissible to violate the no yarn purchasing provisions of the plan to get rid of the 9 balls in stash.  It would be a net reduction of stash, but it would violate the terms under which I am currently permitted to buy yarn.  Sigh.  The knitter peeps have decreed that the purchase would be justified under the spirit of the plan, but I'm having issues with the technical violation.  Apparently, that whole law school thing is messing with my brain.

In writing news, I'm still complying with my writing plan, although not when I'm actually scheduled to do it.  But in any case, I made my 1,000 words this week. Yesterday before the meeting of the Misplaced Modifiers, I gained 1,165 words for a grand total of 64,407 words and 213 pages on the novel.  The meeting was at Mary Kate R's and she had some lovely dairy free snacks.  There were herbed biscuits that were yummy (I really need that recipe), and lovely open faced tea sandwiches, as well as mini chocolate cupcakes.  The sandwiches were soy cream cheese with mango chutney, shrimp and some green leaf, maybe watercress.  They were too round for spinach. (Mary Kate, feel free to weigh in here).  There were also spinach hummus with cucumbers.  It was wonderful.  Sally H-D brought the law firm (aka her son, who is about five or six months old now, the kid has a really long name, hence, the law firm), and he is really starting to look like his sister.  Sally's book, her Ph.D thesis on Peyton Place, is now in production.  Yay!

Shawn and I also began planning a cruise this week.  We haven't booked it yet and we're still working on it, but I just want to say that it's all Alison M's fault.  After she went to St. Thomas last week, I kept thinking about how nice it would be to go on vacation again. I'm hoping the tax return will cover it, since the one we're looking at seems pretty inexpensive. 

On Monday I'm headed to the doctor.  I messed up my knee the day after Christmas by falling on the concrete steps going into my apartment (my fault, I tripped on my coat) and it's not better.  If I bend too far, I get a fuzz burning numb pain. Which keeps moving.  Of course, on Friday I took a dive in the parking lot at work and cracked it again, so I'm thrilled about that. (Note rant about snow above.)  I'm also suspecting that I have another undiagnosed food allergy, as I've had a couple of incidents that seemed like the same reaction although I had no exposure to milk.  Cross your fingers that nothing shows up.

And that's all the news that's fit to print.  Stay tuned.

Twisted

So this has been a slightly twisted week, thus the song title "Twisted." It's a really cool song actually.  If you're following along on Itunes, I'd check out the versions by Joni Mitchell or Anne Ross.

I might have mentioned getting a calendar to manage my New Year's resolutions.  I got a purple monthly calendar from Staples, which Mary Kate R. has affectionately named "the purple calendar of doom."  Me, being me, have scheduled out time to work on both my resolutions.  What is amusing to me, is that although I don't necessarily follow the calendar, if there's a time and a goal written down, I will make it up in the same week even if I don't comply with the original plan.  For example, in order to make my new goal of a thousand words a week during those weeks in which I am not participating in a challenge, I scheduled writing time on Monday and Thursday from 7 to 9 pm.  On Monday I blew it off because by the time I finished the laundry, blocking a sweater, and making dinner it was 10 pm and I was too tired.  On Thursday I blew it off because my back was a wreck after digging out.  So on Saturday, I made it up.  However, if I don't schedule something, I won't do it.  And it has to be written down somewhere.  If it's just a vague intention, I won't do it.

So to report, on the writing front, I finished the challenge with Linda D, last weekend and gained 5,088 words, 18 more pages, for a grand total of 61,974 words and 205 pages.  Yesterday, in making up for blowing off the regularly scheduled writing, I gained is up 1,268 words, for a grand total of 63,242 words and 211 pages.  I'll be posting the file to the Misplaced Modifiers site for the meeting next week later today.
I did use the headset to use the speech recognition feature built into Windows 7 to dictate some of it. 

In spinning news, I'm supposed to spin 4 oz a month.  So yesterday I spun some roving from Chasing Rainbows Dyeworks some time ago I think at NH Sheep and Wool.  It's a 50/50 wool silk and it was lovely.  It took a bit longer than the two hours I'd booked to spin it though. I decided that I wanted the barberpole effect with this yarn, although I considered a navaho ply, so it's plyed on itself.  It's quite soft, and it took care of one half of my goal for the month.  Woo hoo!

In knitting news, I have 24 out of 34 leaves done.  I have two more of the copper pennies color and then eight in spring green and then I can block them and start the actual sock itself. It's a toe up sock and the toe is a bit fiddlely as the toe has a leaf shaped hole in it so that you can sew one of the leafs into it.  Honestly, I'm going to try it, but if it's really god awful, I'm going knit a plain toe and applique the stupid leaf on it and call it good.

Lastly, as I reported above, I got the Tramline Cable Sweater blocked. I wore it to work on Friday.  I had some pictures taken of me in it.  However, none of the pictures that I actually look attractive in, had sufficient detail of the sweater, and the pictures which have sufficient detail of the sweater, I look horrible in.  The detail of the sweater picture won out, and here it is.  Yes, I'm well aware I'm not photogenic at all, damn it.  

On Friday, Shawn and I went to Le Gourmet Chef to get more CO2 for the Soda Stream machine and get some soda flavors. While we were there, I saw a silicone egg poacher that you could use in the microwave and the stove top. So I had to get it, because I love poached eggs, but I never make them because I hate the mess. If you're doing it on the stove top, you put the bottom part in a skillet with 3/4 of an inch of simmering water, crack the eggs in the cups, and cover the skillet.

I just tested the stove top version so far, as I am suspicious of the microwave version.  For that you crack the eggs in the cups, put the clear plastic cover on and microwave on medium for 30-45 seconds.   The stove top version worked, but I may need to cook them a little bit longer than the directions say.

And that's most of the news this week.  Say tuned.

Sculpture Garden

This week was the first week back at work after vacation. The less said about that, probably the better. So in fiber related news, I finished the Tramline Cable sweater, as you can see from the picture. If you want to see the blow by blow on my Ravelry account, the public link is here. I haven't blocked it yet because I don't have a bucket that's really big enough, and I don't want to wash it in my 20 quart stock pot, so I need to go get a plastic tote or something to wash it in. That's why there's no picture of me wearing it yet, although I do like the fit other than the longer arms, but I can correct that with blocking.

So on Sunday that meant that I had to pick my next project so I'd have something to knit at Guild. I kept mulling over options until I nearly ran out of time, if I was going to wind some yarn before going to knitting. So I ended up grabbing one of the kits, Vintage Socks by the Tsarina of Tsocks (Lisa Grossman). Which of course is insane, but it does comply with Item 6 on my 2011 Yarn and Fiber Stash Reduction Plan. Each sock has 17 leaves on it, which have to be knit separately. I have seven leaves knit so far. The color way is Pinot Noir, and I bought the kit a year, maybe two years ago at the New Hampshire Sheep and Wool. It's actually not been too bad yet (said while looking above for the knitting gods to strike me dead with a 14" aluminum #11), so hopefully it'll go quickly. The leaves also have to be left on live stitches for an integrated bind off at the end, so that'll be lots of fun too. Ha. In any case, this whole thing should give some of you a good laugh.

In other fiber related news, the very last yarn purchase of 2010, prior to the implementation of the 2011 Yarn and Fiber Stash Reduction Plan, arrived this week.  I also got Margaret Stoves' Wrapped in Lace book, which is fabulous, and Double Knitting Reversible Two-Color Knitting by M'Lou Baker.  The double knitting book its fabulous for ideas, interesting patterns, and technique, but not so fabulous for range of sizes.  Everything appears to be one size.  So if I were to actually use this book to knit a project, I would forced into redesigning most things to fit the intended person.  Most sizing is not fat friendly either.  

On Tuesday, a weird thing happened.  I went to the drycleaner to pick up my clothes so I would have something to wear to work the next day, and when I went in, there was a guy making coffee at the free coffee station.  After I told the attendant what I was looking for, the guy says to me, "Hey, I'll make you a killer deal on some meat I have out in the truck, I'll take checks, credit cards, cash, food stamps, whatever."  I said "What?" and then he explained that he delivered meat door to door, and he had one last crate to get rid of to make some incentive with his company.  I was so puzzled I said I'd look at it, and he said he'd wait for me outside.  After getting my clothes, and making the attendant promise to call the cops if the guy threw me in the back of the truck, I went outside.  The truck had painted insignia on it, and the guy pulls out this box and starts showing me the frozen vacuum packed meat.  It had 6 ribeyes, 8 filets, 5 NY strip, 6 flat iron, 5 beef loin, and some hamburgers.  He showed me a flyer that package was normally $389, and said he'd give it to me for $200.  I said I couldn't do that, it was too high and there were only the two of us.  I said I'd take the ribeyes and the filets, and we haggled the price on that to $80. Then he said he wasn't really supposed to break up a crate, and that it was really worth it to him to sell this whole thing to make this incentive, so he'd give me the whole thing for $127.  So I said okay, and bought the crate. So either I got a killer deal or I got taken and the steaks suck.  We'll see soon, we're defrosting some to try this weekend.  I think that's one of the most random things that has ever happened to me.

On Wednesday I headed to knitting guild, working on leaves of course.  This week's meeting was at Borders in Concord, and as we were leaving, we were looking at all the kits they have in the clearance section.  Some of you may know that I have requested, repeatedly, that Shawn make me a sculpture.  I have said that it could be out of playdoh, mashed potatoes, pipe cleaners, etc.  So when I saw this kit, it was only natural that I bought it for Shawn to assist him in his endeavors.  Shawn was not enthused, and called me a dork.  But how is my encouragement going to work if the raw materials are not readily available for him to use?  I'm not sure this changes my odds of receiving a sculpture in less than a year, but, hey, can't hurt, right?

 

Yesterday my Dansko purple clogs arrived.  I love, love, love them.  I nearly cried, but restrained myself to squealing and jumping up and down like a little girl.  Yes, I know, I have no shame.  But I truly can't convey how fabulous they are. 

Last night we went to Taipei & Toyko with Chris and Kristie L, and Chris and I started drinking Zombies.  They were really yummy and really freaking strong.  We had a really good time, although my legs weren't working properly by the time we left, and I had to let Shawn drive us home.  Kristie got a new job with new hours so we may actually be able to see each other more often, which is really good.

This weekend, I'm supposed to be doing a challenge with Linda D so that I have something written prior to the next meeting of the Misplaced Modifiers.  I have to have 5,000 words by Sunday at 8:00 pm.  As of 9:55 a.m. this morning, I have nothing.  So I better get to it, now that blogging has given my foggy brain cells a warm up.

Stay tuned for further updates as they occur. 

My New Philosophy

Hi all, this is the New Year's Resolution blog.  Shocker, I know, as it's New Year's Eve.  As some of you may know, I have a lot of yarn.  I mean a lot.  According to the last counts on Ravelry, plus yarn that has been ordered but not received, I have 337 different yarns.  This does not include the skeins.  So, for example, if I have 15 skeins of a purple heather Cascade 220, it only counts as one yarn in Ravelry.  Now granted, I do only have one skein of some yarns, particularly laceweights, but you can see the scale of the problem.  This also does not include all my fiber, meaning roving, fleece and top, that I have yet to spin on the Lendrum.  Which increases the scale of the problem.  So, given that it's that time of year, I've decided that I need to embark on a new yarn and fiber stash reduction plan.  (And I don't want to hear any giggles about previous attempts, it's a new year and a new plan.)

2011 Yarn and Fiber Stash Reduction Plan Rules:

1.  No yarn purchases during 2011 with two exceptions (there have to be some exceptions or I'd go off my head):

• The Webs May Tent Sale - However, all yarn purchased must be at least 60% off retail.
• Stitches East - However, only yarn that is not available locally or cannot be easily purchased on the web may be purchased.

2.  Books, patterns, and needles may be purchased, but with the purpose of using yarn already contained in the stash.

3.  All projects shall be knit with stash yarn with the exception of any group baby blanket projects (said hoping that no one in my knitting group reproduces in the coming year).

4.  Projects shall be chosen with the aim of reducing overall space amounts (i.e. 600 yards of worsted takes up more space than 600 yards of fine laceweight).

5.  At least one project shall utilize my handspun yarn, which had already been spun as of 12/31/2010.

6.  At least one project shall utilize a kit which had been purchased prior to 12/31/2010.

7.  At least two projects shall be self-designed and the pattern shall be suitable for posting to Ravelry for sale.  At least one of these projects shall be a design for a women's sweater with a wide range of plus sizes.

8.  At least one project shall be for Shawn.

9.  With respect to the roving, top, and fleece in the stash, at least 4 ounces of fiber shall be spun each month.  (Although this adds to the yarn, yarn takes up less space than roving, top and fleece.)

That's the fiber and yarn plan.  On to the writing plan.

Again, as many of you know, I'm working on a novel.  However, I've not been working on it very hard as of late.  I pretty much haven't done anything since our last meeting of the Misplaced Modifiers.  And I'm over the half way point, so I just need to get things moving along.  Therefore, I've concocted a cunning plan, as laid out below:

2011 Novel Completion Plan:

1.  At least once a month, I will participate in a Challenge Writing Weekend, whether anyone participates with me or not, in which the goal is to write 5,000 words over the course of a weekend.  (Linda D and I occasionally do these challenges.)

2.  In addition to the Challenge Written Weekends, I will average a 1,000 a week during the non-Challenge Writing Weekend weeks during the each month.

3.  This schedule shall continue until the novel is complete.

I will be heading to Staples later today to get a 2011 calendar to help implement both plans.

In other news, I have been off this week, which was good and bad.  Good in that I'm cruising on the Tramline Cable Sweater, and I have a shot of completing the last sleeve today or tomorrow. I'd like to finish the thing today so I can start the 2011 Yarn and Fiber Stash Reduction Plan fresh, but that's just my OCD talking.  And I would like to be able to add the yardage to my totals for this year...but again, I'm being rigid in my counting hierarchy again.   The week was bad in that I kept buying stuff.  See the Mountain Colors Half Crepe yarn to your left that I purchased at the Elegant Ewe.  I also put in an order at Knitpicks for the new Margaret Stove book, the double knitting book that I've wanted since Stitches, and a couple of balls of the new Chroma in fingering weight.   Then there was an order for vinyl project bags to US Box, an order for work tops, and an order to Zappos for my nth pair of purple shoes.  Not to mention the shoes I bought at DSW and the laptop speakers I got at Bestbuy.  Apparently, if I work, I'm too tired to shop.  Must remember this.

Anyway, I wish you all the best in the New Year and hope that you all accomplish anything you resolve to do.  I'm crossing my fingers for myself.

Stay tuned for further updates.