Greetings, all, from the cusp of the new year.  The old year ended with a deliciously gray, rainy day.  We had a rare few days of proper winter here in Phoenix, with dirty clouds, a sharp breeze, and threats of freezing overnight.  I know all this is nothing novel to a lot of you, but here it’s a rare and fleeting thing here.  Heartbreakingly soon, we will be packing all our hats, sweaters, and mitts away for sundresses and scanty shawls, so I am enjoying bundling up and hunkering down while I can.

Twenty eighteen was a tough year.  I made a lot of plans that were ambitious with a tiny baby, but utterly unrealistic with a toddler.  Just when I thought I had him figured out, and would make plans based on my superior knowledge, he’d change, and I’d be left trying to shoehorn my plans into a very different reality.  There was a lot of frustration to be had, and I spent a lot of time grumpy because of that frustration.

Thankfully, throughout the overwhelming year spent with my tiny human, I also had my knitting.  Fifteen projects, 9,743 yards knitted, and 17,074 yards out.  Yes, dear readers, for the first time in my blogging history, more yarn has left the stash than has entered.  (In case you were curious, 105.75%.)

I am really proud of the large objects I finished–my Still Light Tunic, two oversized shawls, and an entire blanket.  The Christmsas sweaters, three of them and on time, too.  But I’m also very proud that early in the year, I took a long hard look at my stash, picked out the yarns I was not going to knit anytime in the foreseeable future, and donated them to the Art Resource Center, a local charity that provides art supplies to nonprofits.  It was super scary saying goodbye to 2,000 yards of yarn, but you know what?  I have not had a single moment since then where I went OH NO I DESPERATELY NEED THAT YARN I DONATED FOR THIS THING.  Which makes me think I didn’t really need it.  I hope it’s in the hands of someone who does.

That donated yarn was what finally pushed me into the black, in terms of stash usage.  And then I bought a whole bunch of new yarn.  You saw that coming, right?

I spent the last day of the old year tidying up my knitting, finishing one last project, frogging a swatch and washing the yarn so it would be nice and fresh.  It was a good feeling, getting things sorted.  Creating a bunch of goals doesn’t seem particularly wise, so I’d like to try and carry forward this feeling of organization.  There’s projects I’d like to make, of course, and long-term WIPs I’d like to get off the needles, but I hope I remember how good it feels when just a handful of projects are taking up my brainspace, and when I can give each the attention it deserves.

Welcome, 2019.  A fresh year without any mistakes in it yet.  What are your goals for this new year ahead of us?