I finally finished the last of the Christmas knitting on New Year's Day and gave away the last bits of it yesterday. It felt so good to sit down in the afternoon and cast on a new project with no deadline for completing other than it's a winter garment and I'd like to be able to use it this season. But since it's mostly garter stitch and I have a good bit of airplane travel coming up the end of the week, I don't see any reason why it shouldn''t be completed in the near future. I also brought a more complicated shawl project with me on this vacation, and if I feel up to it, I may get that one onto the needles this afternoon. I'm battling a cold today, so naps and medication take first priority. Tomorrow we are planning to go yarn shopping in the city, and I definitely want to be well enough for that.

The one kind of funky thing I've decided to do for this year is to keep the ball bands from all the yarns I use. I think it will be interesting to see how many new skeins I use this year, and what gets made from them. I have the ongoing hat and baby sweater charity knitting, but no specific goals beyond that, other than to try not to be finishing Christmas gifts on New Year's Day. I know I chose a lot of colorwork projects this year, and they naturally go slower than some other types of knitting. I'll try to remember to compensate for that next year.

When I get home there will be quilty things going on as well. I'll have to start by digging out the studio. Then we'll see what's next. Meanwhile I'm going to watch the sky get brighter for a while, then I'm going to hunt for a comfy sofa and a dog to keep me company.