A Look Back

Last night we had a very laid-back, quiet, enjoyable New Year's Eve. I dug out my electric fondue pot and picked up some exquisite beef tenderloin so we could have Boeuf Bourguignon fondue for supper. It was only about the third time I'd used the fondue pot in the 30+ years I've owned it and the first time I've used it in at least 25 years. I made some yummy sauces with fat free sour cream with chopped green onion, curry powder and dry mustard respectively. As we had a big salad for lunch, I only had broccoli and baked Yukon Gold potatoes as accompaniments for the meal.

After supper we tuned in PBS and watched the concert from Avery Fisher Hall of the NY Philharmonic and the Tschaikovsky program featuring Lang Lang as well as the music from the second half of "The Nutcracker". Following that was the Tina Fey 'roast' as she received the Mark Twain Award for Humour taped back in November from Lincoln Centre. What a wonderful way to spend the eve of the New Year. Sometime in there we split a 375mL bottle of champagne - just about the right amount for a bubbly treat but no chance for a hangover.
 
This morning I'm enjoying the Tournament of Roses Parade and looking forward to the Rose Bowl with our favourites, Texas Christian University Horned Frogs as they make their first ever appearance in this bowl game against the Wisconsin Badgers.

I thought it would be interesting to summarize what projects I've completed this year. I'm not counting any UFOs. Here are the 41 projects I've completed in 2010:

• 11 shawls (250m of yarn or more) = 10 started and finished this year and 1 finished from a previous year
• 10 pairs of mittens or gloves
• 5 pairs of socks
• 4 hats
• 3 scarves
• 2 adult sweaters
• 2 baby sweaters
• 2 dishcloths
• 1 child's vest
• 1 water bottle cozy

Current items on the needles are a pair of Kroy socks,

a keyhole scarf using Malabrigo worsted I picked up at the Knitter's Fair,

the Gail/Nightsongs shawl in Handmaiden Fine Sea Silk yarn,

and a pair of Fair Isle tree mittens from the Vogue Mittens and Gloves book I won last month.

I'm pretty pleased with my 2010 output. I read in someone's blog that on New Year's Day they assess all of their UFOs and frog all the ones they don't plan to finish. I'm happy with the projects and UFOs I completed in 2010. I don't plan to exceed that quantity of knitting in 2011 as I've added spinning to my fibre-y activities, however, I do hope to tackle some more of my 20-odd outstanding UFOs and get some more finished. 

And now, back to my knitting.

Go Horned Frogs!