Ok, Ok. I’m starting out the new year already behind. Terrific! We did have our blackeyed peas on January 1st, so I’m quite confident that this will be a great year. If you forgot about them, I think you get a bit of a grace period. That’s my story and I’m sticking to it. We did modify that recipe this year. I’ve decided that I’m just not that big a fan of a ham hock in beans or peas. It just gets too greasy in general. However, I love pancetta. Instead of using the ham hock or shank, dice up a handful of pancetta, have the deli slice it thicker for this than regular bacon. Saute it until crisp, then drain the fat, then add to your peas. Yum. It’s probably healthier than boiling a whole pig leg in your supposedly healthy pot of legumes.
How did I do with my December goals? Here they are:
Continue to write.
Finish the grey mittens, my hands are cold.
Get a grip on the True Blood Faery sweater sleeve problem. I need to mostly MacGyver the whole thing, so I might need some whiskey. I may not finish it, but I am going to figure out what to do with it.
And how did I do? I finished the mittens, and also a pair for John. Win! I did sort out the True Blood Faery sleeve. In case you’ve forgotten, this sweater pattern was never finished in the larger set of sizes. However the armscye on the size I’m making is the same measurement as the one on the size smaller, which was finished by the designer. I started out knitting, decided it was going to be wrong wrong wrong. Fortunately I set it aside to let my brain stop exploding before I ripped the whole thing out.
I ran the numbers through my Sweater Wizard software. And surprisingly, it’s not far off. I dragged out a couple of sweaters that fit me and have decided that the sleeve as written is going to work. So I’ve been knitting onward. Here it is.
As for the writing, after I finished Nano, I haven’t done much, but I have been writing a bit here and there. December always feels like riding on a bullet train to me. The whole month just has too many things going on to really slow down and enjoy any of them. Oh well.
So what are the January goals? I have a pair of socks on the needles that I’d like to finish. Here they are.
So:
Finish those socks.
Keep working on the sleeves. I don’t think I can finish both in January, but I’d certainly like to get one done and make good progress on the second.
Blog more.
Read more. I keep track of my books on Goodreads, and read 20 books in 2011. That doesn’t sound like a lot until I translate into a page count. I tend to read huge books, and my 2011 page count was 9992. My goal is 25 books in 2012.
Write a bit.
Spin a bit.
There you go. I’m not doing the 2012 resolution thing publicly, except for the books, but I do want to get some of the ancient projects done and off the needles. We’ll see how that goes. I will try to keep up with the monthly goals. That seems to keep me on track at least a bit!
Hubby doesn’t like black- eyed peas. Do Great Northerns count? I had hoped to get more spinning done, but have embarked on a big scrapbooking project, so don’t know if that will happen. There just aren’t enough hours in the day-and I don’t work!
Girl…if you only knew my life – so, of course, I made a big pot of black-eyed peas because I need all the help I can get!!!
Happy New Year!
Happy New Year!!! Your list made me tired. Time to take a nap. 🙂
The pancetta sounds like it would be way tastier!
Good luck on your goals. 🙂
Happy New Year to you too! The Faery Ring sleeve is looking good. I know I should pick mine up and just finish it. I’m less than a week away and I am distracted. Soon. Very soon. We will have our nice winter Faery Rings finished this winter, right? Then I’ll have to plan another trip out west… or you can come out here…
Good luck!
I’d like to get ancient projects off the needles as well but I’m not holding out much hope.
Congrats on NaNoWrMo!
I cannot WAIT until you’re Queen of the World. I hope I don’t strangle anyone with cords I can’t identify before then.
I would have been surprised if you had managed any writing in December. Good for you though to get started again!
Wonderful thoughts for the New Year! …I really don’t know how you do it all!! Look forward to another year of seeing how you do it 😉
Hi, Lorette!
Good work on your projects. Why don’t you sell me the socks when they’re done. Good job on your blackeyed peas too. Whatever kind of cured pork you cook ’em with, serve ’em over dirty rice with a good handful of chopped onion and some cornbread, and you’ve got Hoppin’ John good fortune for the year.
Let’s get together soon.