2010 New Year Resolutions

Around this time last year I posted this page with a list of Resolutions.....

TEN CRAFTY THINGS FOR 2010

1. Attend a big craft show in London
2. Do not spend any money on stash in 2010
3. Make many more scrapbook pages than in 2009
4. Take many more photos than in 2009 
5. Learn to use Photoshop
6. Post more often on my blog
7. Regularly take part in challenges
8. Set aside more time for crafting
9. Set a Challenge on my own blog
10. Reorganise my Stash so that it takes up less room.

Did I actually achieve any of the goals I set myself? Nah! Although I tried.

This year I aim to do better and will carry the same Resolutions over to 2011. After all, you never know, I might just manage to achieve one of them! I can live in hope.

Now, if I had included knitting and crochet in 2010's New Year's Resolutions I might have done better. In the past few months I have completed my ripple blanket .....

.....and a snowboarder's hat, 

made up my own patterns for leg-warmers and wrist-warmers, 

and knitted this....

....an easy Sirdar pattern with lovely chunky yarn.  

Karen nabbed the waistcoat when she was home for Christmas and Jenni now wants me to knit one for her! I'm quite happy to knit another one, but before I do, I need to finish my third pair of wrist-warmers! 

Papercrafting has taken a back-seat lately but I'm sure I'll be Scrapping in 2011.  I just need some new photos to inspire me. 

And for that I really need much warmer weather to get out and about with my camera!

Knots And Flowers

I get very irritable when I am partway through a knitting (or crochet) project and one ball of yarn seems to have knots every few yards. I hate knots. I understand why the manufacturers repair broken yarn this way. They want to sell the yarn after all. BUT why do we as consumers accept this practice? Can they not (no pun intended) put these balls to one side and sell them at a reduced rate? 

It's like buying a stack of scrap-booking paper and finding ink stains over a third of the pages.

Anyway, to change the subject slightly, today I have made a snowboarder's hat for a Christmas present. Happily the yarn I used was one and a half balls of Sirdar Crofter (Fair Isle Effect) Chunky and there was not one knot anywhere to be found!

I used a very easy pattern on CocoKnits 

I also wanted to share with you a couple of items I bought from an online company called Bloom. They are a UK company making very realistic-looking silk flowers and flower arrangements.

Firstly, two Hanging Hearts made with ranunculus flowers.....

.......... hanging on my wardrobe door

... and a close-up view.

Secondly, a cute arrangement in a glass bowl:

I am very pleased with these purchases. 

Much more so than with my knotty yarn buys!