The old and the new

So... 2010! Another year whizzed past again. A quick round up..

I did manage to grow my nails this year - and after 33 years of biting them I'm rather pleased with my achievement. Heaven only knows why it took me this long to get around to it.

We did get the extension started - and continued much further than anticipated, despite several major problems unearthed (literally!) and rectified along the way. Our daughters moved into their new bedrooms in August, and we are really happy with it all. The main lesson learned - expect the unexpected!

My etsy shop had the best year of sales so far - mainly because I dedicated much of my crafting time to it. It has a long way to go, but at least it's heading in the right direction.

I seem to have knitted quite a few pairs of socks last year-  mainly for my daughters. 2009 also saw the rebranding of my hand-dyed yarns to Perran Yarns, and the start of my knitting and crocheting necklaces.

On the family front, I gained a new niece - Sophie May, and we have another male family member due this March - my husband's cousin's baby.

I also managed to go down the death slide - a major achievement for somebody so scared of falling as me!

This blog was fairly consistently neglected throughout 2009! I really should try to do better this year. Really.

So what am I expecting from 2010?

Well I really do want to change the shape of my midriff. I don't really care what the numbers on the scales say. I just want to be more happy with my shape. That means one thing - exercise!

I would also like to cope with our hectic daily life with a little more ease and less stress. This may in turn improve the dyshidrotic eczema on my fingers - hopefully.

And this year, definately, we are going to spend more time on the beach - after all it's only 2 miles away!

Tofutsie socks and building blocks

The Kaibashira socks are done - they have been for a while but now we have the computer back so I can show you - woohoo!

They only took about half the ball of Tofustsies, so now I have 46g left - obviously I need to make more socks for my daughters.

I've got all the way down to the toe of my very first own-design cuff-down lacy rib sock, only to find that it's used too much yarn. Poo.

I will persevere though - 46g of yarn is too much to waste!

The other thing that's progressing is the extension - we're now up to roof level:

The window and french doors should be in place soon too, then we're on the internals - yay!

Forced absence

Just wanted to let you know that I'm having a little forced absence from this blog right now - thanks to problems with our computer. The hard drive has died and the new one isn't compatible with other parts of the system - these things inevitably have complications!

The junior ribby socks are done and being worn by eldest DD with delight. I'm half way through a pair of Kaibashira socks (originally a Magknits pattern, now taken on by Knotions) for me, using one of my stash balls of Tofutsies yarn. Love the pattern but not mad on the cuff edging - pretty but way too loose. I may try a size smaller needle for the start of the second sock.

My tiny local newsagent has come up trumps - they've got hold of a copy of the new magazine "The Knitter". It's on issue 3 - and I love it. There is an offer to try 3 issues for £5, so I'll be doing that.

The house extension is progressing and expanding along the way, as we've (literally) unearthed some problems we weren't aware of before this started. At least we have the ideal opportunity to put them right, but it means the whole process is going to take longer and cost more money - as always.

I'll post as and when I get the chance, but there will be fewer, if any, pictures for a while.