You'd think I would have learned by now.

...And it's only been about eleven months since my last blog post. I am perhaps not so good at doing this on a regular basis. I'm hoping I can improve my record this go-around, though. *shrugs* I'm going to aim for a blog post a week. (That may be setting the bar a little high, but we all have dreams.)

Another year, another set of resolutions. 

I don't do the whole, "I want to diet/go to the gym every day and lose 20 lbs by March!" thing, as that typically ends badly. (Seriously, think about the number of people you know for whom that actually works. All two of them.) Instead, I try and work on things that are a little less all-or-nothing.

Healthwise, I'm aiming to eat fewer processed foods and up my intake of fruits and vegetables. I do want to get more exercise into my life, but I'll worry about how to work on that once school starts up again.

My yarn and fiber resolutions for the year are equally vague and noncommittal. ("No pressure" is the name of the game here, heh.) So far, my only stated goal has been to work on knitting and spinning my stash down. I've joined a couple groups on Ravelry to encourage good behavior here.

As of the beginning of December, I had (not counting unspun fiber or yarn acquired since then) 370 skeins of yarn in my stash, with a total yardage of 78,500. That's, er, over 44 miles of yarn. Counting the yarn acquired or catalogued since then, I'm likely pushing 48 miles now. *winces*
Fiber is a little harder to quantify, but I have four 60-quart rubbermaid tubs stuffed to the brim with wool. The yarn takes up about seven and a half tubs, for comparison.

I think it's safe to say that I don't really need more yarn. That probably won't stop me from acquiring more anyway, but I'm hoping to temper that with using things I already own. And if I can use my handspun for something, even better.

This brings me to the first project of:

Operation Angry Marmoset, or, Stashdown 2013.

Seen from this angle, the green doesn't look that bad. 

Aaargh, my eyes! A view of the interior.

And how it looks on a head. Sort of.

My first FO of the year, the "Aaargh, My Eyes!" Hat. The pattern is Pom Pom It, by Steven West, a freebie that was released as part of the Westknits ChoreoKAL.

I followed the instructions pretty much exactly. There were one or two errors that I didn’t notice in the ribbing until after I’d bound off. I doubt anyone will be able to see them, however, since it would require staring directly at the blindingly green part to do so.

I used two different skeins of handspun yarn that had been kicking around my stash for a few years as well as a single skein of Knit Picks Wool of the Andes in Onyx Heather for contrast. I didn't use up either skein in its entirety, but I did manage to make something fun and practical with two somewhat difficult-to-work-with yarns.

Shawl-tastic. Also, weather.

Shawl number 1 of my 12 Shawls in 2012 project is officially complete. :D

As I said in my last post, I wrapped this project up around the 20th, but didn't get around to taking proper photos until this week. I'm not terribly fond of pictures of myself, so I usually have to work myself up to taking modeled shots. Thankfully, my lilac armchair is more than up to the job.

As mentioned previously, the relevant info is located on my (exhaustive) Ravelry page. I'm really happy with how this project turned out. It's been my go-to scarf lately because of how well it wraps around my neck/shoulders without getting loose; this is important if your bicycle is one of  your main modes of transport. (It's also why my Doctor Who scarf doesn't get a lot of love in the more temperate portions of the year-- I'd rather not go all Isadora Duncan in my attempts to get from one place to another.) Though, speaking of which...


What in hell is going on with Buffalo's weather? We've gone from 15 F to over 50 F over the course of a week, with temps jumping all over the place in between. There was a 16-degree temperature difference from when I left the house this morning to when I came back home tonight, jumping from 34 F to 50 F.

In January. In Buffalo.

*facepalm*

I know that I should be grateful for the mild weather, since it means I can bike as opposed to having to trudge through snow, ice, and slush, but it's weirding me out, man. I'm concerned that the trees will think winter has broken early and start to leaf. For those of you not familiar with recent Buffalo history, back in 2006,  Arborgeddon occurred because trees hadn't started to shed their leaves before an unseasonable storm hit. About 90% of all trees in the city were damaged as a result, and hundreds of thousands of people were left without power. I'd really rather not see a repeat of that this year. *sighs*

Other than that, not too much else to say tonight. I'm considering posting a recipe tomorrow, if I can find time to squander writing blog entries instead of doing homework. Oh, what am I saying-- of course I can. Heh.