A New Year!

I know it's the 2nd day of 2012 already, but I just wanted to say Happy New Year anyway, to all the visitors of my humble little blog.

With the new year comes new, or in my my case, additional, resolutions, and one of them is to try to keep this blog up-to-date! My excuse for not blogging for the last few months is that I've been on a hiatus from knitting and (a lot of) cooking, due partly to work, and partly to the intolerable Summer heat. It's still so strange to me how we Southern Hemispherers grow up reading about White Christmases and people snuggled up in warm blankets next to the fireplace at this time of year, when, in reality, here, most of us spend our Christmas and New Year holidays splashing around on the beach, or around the barbie. For this reason, I stop buying magazines in Summer, because I feel hot just looking at the covers, which feature models all wrapped up in big scarves and wearing thick clothes, beanies and boots. Nonetheless, I managed to finish making up my Gatsby Dress on New Year's morning (I know, took me long enough!). I'm sure I would have finished it ages ago, if I didn't leave it for so long, untouched. I'm blocking the picot edging on the back of the neck trim again - it's almost dry now - because it was still forward-inclined after blocking it from the front yesterday. I will post pictures once it's all done. I'm keen to model it too and take pictures, but I have to buy a nice white cotton skirt, or similar, first to wear underneath it. There's no rush, I guess, since I probably won't be wearing it until closer to Autumn, when the weather becomes cool enough for woollen garments!

I went for an afternoon run/brisk walk today, which made me feel good afterwards. One of my New Year resolutions is to increase my fitness level, be it one baby step at a time, so perhaps I'll try to make the walks a regular thing. I'm afraid to do it alone though, because nowadays, it's not 100% safe to be out and about alone on foot, even in your own neighbourhood. Gone are the days when people didn't even have to lock their doors at night. Heck, I don't even know the folks living on my street, besides one of my immediate neighbours. Yes, ONE. I know of the man living on the other side of the fence, but never speak to him, because he's a nasty man (very nasty, for someone who is like, 80) who, in his middle-aged days, threw eggs against our door and walls, and buried dead chicken with their feet sticking out of the ground, and in his old age, does nothing but ask people to do things for him, and in return, reports your pets (whatever we have at the time (we've had ducks, chicks and dogs over the years)) to the city council for anything and everything (eg noises that are not heard by, or don't bother, anyone else).

In brief, my other New Year's resolutions, include:
1. Doing all the projects that I've bought yarn for already (7 that I can remember off the top of my head, but I'm sure there's plenty more to add to the list!); working on 1 WIP at a time; use up my hefty stash, or at least reduce it to a reasonable size (considering the amount of money I spend on yarn every year);
2. Starting an etsy shop, after talking about doing that for the past year or 2;
3. finding out about Winter charity knits programs abroad before submissions deadline, so that I can actually participate in them;
4. finding another local hospital to knit premmie beanies for; one that doesn't tell you the beanies go directly to the premmies in the ward, but in reality actually gets sold to people for like $8-10/hat through the hospital foundation, and you aren't informed of this until the second batch is donated, and wouldn't have been, if they didn't need to make a special request for a certain design to be knitted, as they sold better. *breathe* Seriously, if I knew this to be the case, I'd rather donate money to the hospital, than have my effort - love and well wishes in each stitch, with so much thought put into each design - wasted and put together with a dollar value. and $8?? Really???
5. Sleep earlier (11.38pm already, so that's not going well);
6. Try my best in my studies, and not forgo opportunities to do so when in the presence of others, just because I'm too afraid of failure; failing when people know how much you've tried and want to succeed;
7. Have the courage to try new things; learn as much as I can, without the need of a known use for it;
8. Turn tears into pearls of wisdom.

Have a happy, prosperous 2012, everyone!