Well, hello there...?

It's been a while!

For me, 2010 finished a bit like a balloon with a slow leak, resulting in a slightly flabby crumpled heap effect by the end of it. Fortunately, things are starting to get back on track a little with an emerging enthusiasm for the slow things of summer, including the beach, the pool, berries, and more time in the backyard with the girls.

Somehow, in the insanity that was December (including a husband away for a week and a half, a two-year old birthday party the day after he got back, general pre-Christmas craziness as well as hosting Christmas lunch), I did manage to make a few (rather unspectacular) gifts:

A Silvan Star washcloth for Jodie's Christmas Washcloth Swap;

A Grit Stitch washcloth for a friend who had said she'd like one (Sucker? Hopefully she wasn't just being polite!); and

two Bump Stitch washcloths (Ravelry link) for another friend, who I KNOW appreciates handmade. Do you think I have a washcloth problem?

While my handmaking of gifts was rather minimal this year, I knew I'd be busy so didn't set my goals too high. It would still be nice to make a few more things next Christmas, though.

I'm hoping to make an appearance here a few times over the next couple of weeks, but it is summertime so it's likely to be slightly erratic! I'm hoping to get back into an achievable and consistent blogging routine by February.

I also have an embarrassingly long backlog in my reader because I haven't been visiting much lately. Sanity has required that any available brain output capacity was used up knitting sock* (even if it was only two rows in a day), which meant there has rarely been any left for other things. Hopefully I'll start to get back on top of blogland soon!

I'm also hoping to be able to start thinking about the year ahead this week, which means thinking about goals for making and learning. Mmmm...new projects!

*I think I might finish sock 2 today, so there's been some progress on that front, at least!

A new year!

It's been a while!

After a particularly hectic lead-up to Christmas, a few days in Sydney visiting family and friends and then a week of down time at Raymond Island, we're back, and ready to begin the new year! While the down time was more theoretical than practical (chasing a crawler around in the dirt is not exactly relaxing!), I'm feeling surprisingly refreshed and enthusiastic about the year (or at least the next few weeks) ahead.

In keeping with the theme of a new year and new beginnings, I made a few new year's resolutions (original, I know). We had to put making these on our To Do list though, as our New Year 'celebrations' were spent unpacking from one trip and packing for the next one. But we did manage to somehow find the time! Here are my crafty/bloggy resolutions:

1. Learn to spin. I'm babysitting a spinning wheel for a friend for the foreseeable future, so I figure this is the perfect opportunity to attempt to learn a new skill. I managed to find some carded fleece while away, so all I need to do now is find a willing teacher!?!

2. Complete an average of at least one project a week for 2010. One of the benefits I've found from blogging is a dramatic increase in productivity. So I figure that it shouldn't be too insane to try to capitalise on that! It may result in a whole lot of crocheted washcloths and christmas decorations (not-quite-but-very-nearly-instant gratification), but I still need more of both, so that's OK! This also gives me permission to have several projects on the go at any time, and also multiple projects of the same method (ie crochet, knitting, sewing etc)! I'm finding that when I finish one project, it takes me a while to work out what to do next, so I need more than one in progress. Or is this just a clever way of indulging excess? We will see....

3. Keep a list of all the books I read in 2010. I already do this, but if I keep a public list here, then maybe I'll read more than just crime fiction!!

I'm looking forward to this year!

I made it!

It is done. One post per day for the 31 days of October. Wow!

While there have been days when it's been quite difficult to come up with something, I've found it far easier than I anticipated. Being fairly new to this blogging thing (and having a dreadful track record when it comes to keeping paper journals), I really wasn't sure that I'd succeed without veering too much into drivel land (that might be today's job). But I've been pretty happy with the posts I've done, and I think the content has been fairly close to what I anticipated this blog would be about (crafting, cooking, gardening, living, and occasionally parenting). Daily posting this month has helped consolidate for me what this blog is about.

I've enjoyed the challenge of producing something each day. This is probably the first daily non-parenting related thing that I've committed to since becoming a mum, and it's nice to discover that I can maintain a commitment, even if it is only for 5 minutes some days!

I've also enjoyed finding new (to me) blogs, though I haven't got anywhere near halfway through all the people who signed up, so I expect I'll find even more to add to my reader as I continue through the list!

One of the biggest drawbacks of Blogtoberfest for me has been an inability to keep up with my reader - I currently have over 250 posts to catch up on, so I'm hoping that once everyone stops blogging daily it will be easier to maintain!!

Thanks Cathy for a challenging and fun month. I think I will try to maintain regular posting as it helps me feel like I'm achieving something, but 3-4 times a week rather than daily (phew, I hear you say). I'm taking the day off tomorrow!!

A conundrum....

Today I'm hoping to catch up on reading some of the blogs I've been neglecting for the past couple of days, and DO SOME SEWING!! We've had family staying with us for the past few nights who don't know about my blogging habit, so I've been sneaking in quick blog updates for Blogtoberfest when they've been distracted!

Homebaked bread. Completely unrelated, but I can't bring myself to have a picture free post! I did make it a couple of days ago, and managed to remember to take a picture before it was all gone! It was yummy, too :-)

It raises an interesting conundrum about the congruence (or lack of) in having a significant area of your life that is not known by (most of) the people that you're close to in person, if you know what I mean. It kind of feels a bit like keeping a big secret, without really having a good reason for doing so. Part of me is worried that they'll think I'm weird (hang on, they know that already ;-)), or maybe I'm worried that people I know wont like the stuff I'm making/doing? I don't know! At the moment it's still kind of a secret. Mostly.

What about you? Does the world know about your blogging habit? Why or why not? I'd love to know :-)