Quarterly report - 4th quarter

Very soon it'll be time for making new New Year's resolutions (or refraining from exactly that), so here's one final look at the 10 resolutions I made for 2010. 


1. Knit down (some of) my stash
I did knit up a lot of odds and ends this quarter, but not being able to resist some quite good and new offers on the Danish market [garnudsalg.dk and byslavi.dk], I think it's safe to say that there's no negative stash balance this quarter, even without counting!

2. Be less spendy and save money for more important things.
Wedding, Christmas, new interesting yarn stores popping up... I don't know. However, the next big thing to save for is the...

3. Improve my Italian.
I've been too busy at work this quarter, but now we've booked part of our belated honeymoon trip to Northern Italy (surprise!), which means there's still hope for this one!

4. Keep flossing.
Yes.

5. Less Facebook, more reading.
I think I've been fairly successful here. I've recently started to keep a list of my reads - I've read 10 books in 2010*; I'm sure many of you would think of it as ridiculously few, but to me it's quite alright. I've also become a fan of the newspaper we've kept throughout 2010, WeekendAvisen. I still get my daily news online only. 

6. Learn how to do tubular cast on and use it.
No, but I've finally found a project, I'd like to learn and use it for: Tora's Attitude.

7. Keep running regularly.
Oh yes. I've been good and managed to run 3 times a week the past many months. I've recently started training for my first marathon, Copenhagen Marathon on the 22nd of May. Here's hoping for no injuries, as that seems to be the only thing that can stop me right now.

8. Keep doing Pilates regularly.
I didn't do any at all over the summer, but recently I've started focusing on the core strength again since it goes well with running and should improve my running technique. There's still hope.

9. Knit 12 sweaters.
No. Granite was my #7 this year. I have 6 sweater WIPs on the needles, though, so I'm happy enough with my result.

10. Knit 10 shawls.
No! I finished my new favourite shawl, Camomille, this quarter, but that only brings me to a total of, uhm, 4 shawls/scarves when not counting one that was finished but not started in 2010. 


Summing up: I was very ambituous back in January - I like being so, even if I know I may not get there in time - but being my own judge I'd say that I failed at 6, 8, 9, and 10 only. With such overly ambitious goals (and results I'm fine with at 9 and 10) I think that's quite alright. 


I'll be back with new resolutions for 2011 in the new year. Maybe. Until then - have a wonderful New Year's Eve!


Finally, the FOs of this 4th quarter. The knits are dominated by the frantic knitting in the four weeks that passed between being invited to go to a Christmas fair in November with all my knits and actually going to the fair: lots of small project for babies as well as accessories such as mittens and bracelets. You can still find some of them for sale here and here, btw. Among the knits of the 4th quarter are however also my new favourite scarf, Camomille, and the long anticipated Granite. 

*In case any of you are interested, these are the 10 books I read (links in English when available - I read only two of them, Solar and The Chinese Shawl, in English, though):

Jens Smærup Sørensen: Mærkedage [da]

Ian McEwan: Solar [eng]

Leif Davidsen: Dostojevskijs sidste rejse; Den ukendte hustru; På udkig efter Hemingway; Min broders vogter [eng] 

Andrew Taylor: Bleeding Heart Square [eng]

Patricia Wentworth: The Chinese Shawl [eng]

Peter Høeg: Elefantpassernes børn [da]

Jostein Gaarder: The Castle in the Pyrenees [eng] 

Mærkedage, Elefantpassernes børn, Dostojevskijs sidste rejse, and Bleeding Heart Square were my favourites. I was slightly disappointed by McEwan this time.