Another Friday, another shed. This one is in the back yard of my neighbor across the street. I took it from my bedroom window because a) I’m lazy and b) it was coooold out there.  The light was too pretty to not take the photos, though.

It’s another long weekend and we’re taking Hannah back to college on Monday. I’ll see you all on Tuesday. Until then, carry on. And do something FUN!

As you may have heard, we had a major snow event in my area yesterday. I was stoked for a day at home. I pictured a day full of knitting, reading blogs, and hanging out on Facebook, all with the TV on in the background. Instead I woke up to find we were without power.

You all know I have a wood stove so we weren’t cold. And I have a gas cook stove so we had coffee and tea and a hot breakfast. Really, I can’t complain. And yet, I’m going to do just that.

I read a book  on my Kindle and I did some knitting and I was bored. Bored! Me! I’m never bored but I was.

This boredom made me realize 3 things about myself:

1. I am addicted to my iPhone. When I wore the battery completely down I  sent Dale out into the snow drifts to charge it with my car charger. And when the power came back on shortly after that I sent him back out to retrieve it. My precious, indeed.
2. I am addicted to Facebook. It was my connection to the outside world yesterday. Well, until my phone battery gave up.
3. I am addicted to television. I needed news and I needed The View and I needed a soap opera and a rerun of Grey’s  Anatomy. I was adrift without my favorite shows and my mood was decidedly cranky. I’m not proud of this but it’s true.

The power came back on at 3:45 and within minutes I had the laptop powered up, Hannah was checking Facebook on her Mac, and Dale was using his iPad to check his email.

At least I’m not alone with my addictions.

You may have noticed a finished sweater in last week’s mosaic. And you may have noticed that said sweater was being modeled by Hannah, even though the intended recipient of said sweater (the Spartan Pullover from Interweave Knits Fall 2006) from was Dale.

That would be because the sweater was too small for him. Sigh.

I knit a gauge swatch and I checked it and knit what I thought would be the correct size. I made one fatal error, however, I did not wash my gauge swatch. Apparently Berroco Peruvia does not bloom when it is washed. Either that or Dale grew an inch taller and gained 20 lbs. Yeah, let’s go with that.

At first I was quite heartbroken about the situation. I contemplated ripping the sweater apart but it was seamed and blocked and done and I just didn’t have the heart to start over. Then I thought about giving it to Dale’s brother, Randy, but I wasn’t convinced it would fit him either. And then, in a moment of inspiration, I told Hannah to put it on.

And it was adorable on her.

It’s big and roomy in a boyfriend-sweater sort of way.

She thinks it will be perfect for knocking around campus.

And I’m just happy that someone I love will be wearing a sweater I knit.

Even if it is the wrong person.

In keeping with the spirit of the new year and positive intentions and such, the theme for Ten on Tuesday this week is Ten Ways to be More Organized. Now, I don’t want to brag or anything but I am a pretty organized person. I make lists and keep deadlines and stay on track. I live with someone, however, who is a hot mess when it comes to being organized. I’m not naming names but I’m pretty sure you know who he is. I’m writing my list with him in mind.

1. Keep a “to do” list. I use my iPhone and the Toodledo app but a piece of paper and a pencil works fine, too.
2. Keep your “to do” list realistic. You probably can’t finish 18 things on a Sunday afternoon and, while it’s admirable to try, you’re just going to wind up feeling defeated when you don’t get to everything. This leads me to . . .
3. Prioritize. If you’ve got a long list of things to do, go through it and move the things that absolutely must get done to the top of the list.
4. Purge. It’s easier to stay organized when you have less stuff hanging around. And really, you don’t need that old band outfit from 30 years ago. It will never fit you again and trust me, no one wants to wear it as a Halloween costume.
5. Handle things once. Sort the mail as you open it, put your coffee cup directly into the dishwasher rather than leaving it on the counter, answer and delete emails as soon as you read them. Saving stuff for later really just makes more work for yourself in the long run.
6. When you have an overwhelming task (like cleaning the garage – I’m talking to someone in particular here) spend just 10 minutes (0r 15 or 20 or whatever feels right to you) per day on that task. If you stay on track with a set amount of time you will make progress without feeling like it’s all futile.
7. Make a place for everything and always put everything in it’s place. Seriously, this is probably the most important thing on this list other than keeping a to-do list. How much time do we all waste looking for stuff because we didn’t put it where it goes in the first place?! Before you put something down ask yourself “does this go here?” and if it doesn’t, well, put it where it goes.
8. Clean as you go. I’m mostly thinking of cooking here but I’m sure it could also apply to home improvement projects and other things. Put away each item as you are finished with it and you won’t have anything to clean up when you are done. Oh, and close those damn cabinets, too.
9. Plan the week ahead. This covers food shopping and meal prep, exercising, commuting schedules and attending meetings — all of it.
10. Maintain a calendar. Fill it up with work schedules and vacation days, upcoming meetings and appointments, family and social obligations. Use it to keep deadlines and share the information with your spouse and family.

So there you have it, my tips on staying organized. Now if only he-who-shall-not-be-named will adopt some of my suggestions. Heh.

Project 365 can be a challenge during the winter months. The days are short and the light is sort of flat this time of year. Plus, it’s cold outside and the idea of wandering around with a camera is definitely less appealing than in, oh let’s say, May. Nevertheless, I am committed to the project and that means looking for inspiration wherever I can find it.

Last week I found it when I read this blog post on Pioneer Woman.

Within minutes of reading that I was in the bathroom with some food coloring (for some reason I only had green) and vegetable oil.

I don’t think my photos are as cool as those in the blog post but I had fun and it got me through another day of Project 365.

And it gave me something to blog about after an uneventful (but restful and relaxing) weekend.

We had incredible fog last Sunday and I snapped this photo of the shed. It’s a far cry from last Friday’s, I think. It makes me want to snuggle under a quilt by the woodstove with my knitting.

And that’s where you’ll find me this weekend! Make it a good one!

I feel like 2010 was the year of the shawl. After all, I knit 6 of them and, while some were great feats, most were simple triangular shawls. That’s probably because they are my favorite type of shawl to knit and to wear. They just make such a perfect little accessory to a boring blouse or plain sweater. You can throw one on over your coat for a pop of color and some extra warmth or you can wear it instead of a coat when the weather warm is simply chilly. Versatile is the operative word here.

The last finished shawl of 2010 was the Traveling Woman Shawl. I knit it from 11/26 to 12/10 and then tossed it into the knitting basket and promptly forgot all about it. I think I was scared to block it because I knit this exact same pattern last December and it unraveled when I blocked it. Yup. There’s nothing quite like pulling out a point to pin it and having the whole thing start coming un-done. It’s a scary moment and I was so disgusted that I picked up the whole thing and threw it in the trash. Yes I did. Don’t judge me.

Anyway, that had never happened before and I think I was afraid to block this one for fear of it happening again. I needn’t have worried.

It blocked out beautifully and I’ve already worn it once.

The yarn is String Theory Hand Dyed Caper Sock Yarn in the color Scarlet. I love how the pinks and roses and purples all blend together.

And truly, the feeling of accomplishment is all that much sweeter the second time around.

These are the finished hand knits of 2010.

There are 31 items pictured there.

• 12 pairs of socks
• 4 pairs of mittens
• 4 sweaters
• 3 scarves
• 1 hat/hood
• 1 blanket
• 6 shawls

It’s significantly less than last year and it’s mostly because I knit less socks. I’m okay with that and I’m pretty pleased with the year’s accomplishments. I am particularly proud of that bridal shawl!

I had some knitting goals for 2010 and this seems like an appropriate time to see how I did with them.

Goals for 2010

1. Knit 18 pairs of socks. Nope, only made 12.
2. Publish my picot edge sock pattern. Done!
3. Learn to crochet in the round. Never happened but at least I can crochet a decent edge now.
4. Knit a sweater for me, a sweater for Dale, a sweater for Jessica, and a sweater for Hannah. I knit a sweater for me, a sweater for Dale (except it was too small and now it’s Hannah’s, more on that later), and a sweater for Hannah. No sweater for Jessica.

Goals for 2011:

1. Knit 12 pairs of socks. 1 per months seems to work just fine.
2. Learn to crochet in the round. Maryse, are you listening?
3. Knit a sweater for Dale that actually fits.
4. Knit a vest for me.
5. Knit random things for other people as the need arises. I’m sure this will include items for Hannah and perhaps also Jessica.

I believe in goals and appreciate the challenge of meeting them. Honestly, though, my favorite thing about this post is seeing all the things I made in one big mosaic!

Now that the holiday season is behind us I’m sure some of us are feeling overwhelmed by things. Too many things! And perhaps we even want to purge our life of some of those things. But there are also things that can be quite important to us. In that spirit, this week’s Ten on Tuesday topic is 10 Things You Wouldn’t Want to Live Without*.

1. My laptop. It connects me to all of you. It is essential for my job. It probably will need to be replaced at some point this year but I can’t picture my life without a laptop.
2. My camera. Seriously, I never expected to feel this way about a camera and photography but it’s very important to me.
3. My iPhone. I’ve said it before but it’s true – I have an unnatural fondness for this particular piece of technology.
4. My yarn stash. Can all that yarn count as one thing on this list? Sure it can. There’s some pretty great stuff in my stash and I love it all.
5. My spinning wheels. Okay, I can narrow this down. My Schacht Matchless and my Reeves. I love the Canadian Production Wheel and the Lendrum is useful because of the Woolee Winder but it’s really the Matchless and Reeves that I would consider essential.
6. My Kindle. I took a lot of heat from my fellow librarians for this purchase (because of the proprietary nature of the device) but I stand by it and I love it.
7. My appliances. I’m lumping them all together but I love my stove and refrigerator, my microwave and my coffee maker, my washer and dryer and my storage freezer in the garage. All of these things make my life infinitely easier and I appreciate living in a modern world.
8. My Sirius radio. I actually did live without this for a couple of weeks recently because I (long story) tripped on the antenna wire while getting out of the car one night and I broke it. Let me tell you, I missed the thing and was not happy about radio with commercials. I know there’s Pandora on my iPhone and Audible books on there too, but I missed my Margaritaville radio!
9. Google Reader. It took a long time for me to give up on Bloglines (and I’ve heard that the new Bloglines is good) but once I adapted to Google Reader I decided I like it better. It’s faster, it’s available on my iPhone, and it works all the time. I never could say that for Bloglines.
10. My new exercise bike. This isn’t really something I don’t want to live without right now but I’m putting it on the list because I’m working towards loving it. Or at least accepting that it will get me where I need to be. I appreciate any and all encouragement on this.

* I want to point out that I am well aware that all things are replaceable and if I suddenly lost every thing in my life I would survive. It’s people that really matter and I’m just having fun with this list. I feel the need to say this in the spirit of not tempting fate.

It’s my first blog post of the year and I generally summarize my knitting projects from the previous year at this time. However, I still have 3 finished knits that need to be photographed. The plan was to do that yesterday but the weather (heavy heavy fog and scattered showers) did not cooperate.

And so, instead of my year in knits I will share my year in photos.  I completely stole the idea from Maryse but I know she won’t mind. I used Pummelvision to create a video that includes every photo from my Project 365 on flickr.

Pummelvision from Carole Julius on Vimeo.

Pretty cool, eh?