Starting the year off... typically

I obviously can't say I am starting the year off being a stellar knitting blogger or ravelry citizen (say those of you who send me snarky "where is your stash?" e-mails, and yes, there are several of you). On the list of things I've finished in recent months and have neither photographed or posted:

• 1 pair of turquoise knee-high wool socks out out of Bonkers hand-dyed that I have been wearing the stuffing out off because it's so COLD


• 1 pair of lace socks I designed out of You-should-be-shocked-Jo-Minor-is-still-speaking-to-me-because-she-wanted-it-and-I-got-the-last-two-skeins Regia bamboo that I have worn, but would really like to elasticize before wearing again because they stretch out and don't bounce back


• 1 pair of Claudia colorway "sharks" wherein I discovered that on a size 00 needle, one skein of Claudia is EXACTLY enough for a medium-high sock and not half an inch of fiber more


• 1 pair of tweedy dark green-and-oatmeal ribbed socks for the spouse, wherein I discovered that 1 skein of Wildfoote and a pair of size 00 needles makes a sock plenty high enough for the spouse's taste and still leaves me more than enough to make some baby socks for a few of the impending boy babies at my office


• 1 black ribbed hat that I knocked out in a couple of hours, wherein I aimed to be as stark and no-frills as possible for the cousin I got assigned in the Christmas drawing, because he thinks he is a badass


• 1 blue and green mitered hat out of silk garden that I borrowed and modified from a mitered knitting book, wherein I learned that I am actually quite good at grafting live stitches to a cast-on edge (this one, unfortunately, WAS photographed by someone at UFO Wednesday, but I don't remember whom, and no one has 'fessed up or found it on her camera)

I'll get around to photographing and ravelry-ing all but the last two quite soon. Right now I'm trying to finish up some UFOs, and I started a new project that's intended to be a quick stash-buster and may instead end up an ugly sweater because the colors don't go together as well as I envisioned. Still, I've done some interesting construction-type things with it that I think I'll use again. I put some techniques together that I haven't seen used together before (and, perhaps, there's a reason for that). So, if they work, maybe I'll write the pattern. Or maybe if they work, I'll do a second with better colors and write the pattern for that.

Also, a fingerless glove, that has turned into a gauntlet, for the purpose of practicing my colorwork. The good news is that my stranding coordination has vastly improved. The bad news is, my gauge tightened as a result, and if I actually stuff my hand in the thing, my knuckles compress, so I'm giving it to dainty little Molly Weasley.

My new year in other ways hasn't been all bad. Observe the following roundup of my gym schedule for the week:

Sunday morning: Powerflex weightlifting class - 1 hour
         Advanced step aerobics class - 1 hour
Monday: Had an appointment, didn't work out
Tuesday morning: Got up at 5 a.m. to go to a 5:45 a.m. spinning class - 1 hour
Wednesday morning: Slept through 5:45 a.m. Powerflex, but had fabulous intentions
Wednesday evening: Actually bailed on the 6 p.m. Spinning class at which my attendance is usually semi-religious. Went to bed EARLY.
Thursday morning: Slept through 5:45 a.m. spinning.
Thursday evening: Step aerobics - 1 hour (wherein I was good-naturedly chewed out for being absent at Wednesday night spinning)
Friday morning: You guessed it, slept through spinning. But one out of four ain't bad (right?)
Friday evening: Urban rebounding (insane aerobics class on mini-trampolines) - 1 hour.
So, even being a slacker and sleeping all week, I managed five hours. And the week isn't over yet. Imagine what I'd accomplish if I got my canasta out of bed and actually applied myself.

Off to knit my (potentially) ugly sweater and eat some delicious eggplant and tomatoes.