Weekending: The Post-Holiday Edition

I can't remember the last time I took 3 days in a row to do mostly free-time things, but it's been SO GREAT.  I slept in a couple of days, and generally lazed around the house, took some walks with the dogs (although it's been very cold here), and enjoyed myself.

I spun a bunch on Friday and Saturday - more details on that to come on the Spinning Friday post.

I worked a bit on a Sekret Knitting project, but I also knit quite a bit on my Hecate shawl - I'm in the striped lace section, and I've got just one more repeat of the eyelets and stripes to do to finish the final chart in that section, and then I'm on to the border!

I also cast on for another one of Kirsten's patterns, her Wood Hollow Mittens, which I have knit before and really enjoyed, so I'm making them again, this time out of a handspun BFL.  While I have kept the needle size as written, they are coming out a little larger since the yarn is a plumper worsted than the original sample.  This is perfect as I am making them for my Mittens for Akkol donation package and the kids apparently often wear two pairs of mittens, layered, for warmth.

So all that said, while I say every year I don't make resolutions, I suppose I have this year.  A fairly short list, but here it is:

• Work on spinning down my fiber stash.  I've earmarked a small set of 11 braids to Spin the Bin (and have spun one up and started a second already.)  If I spin all those, I'll refill the bin and start over.  I've also decided to sign up for the 7.5 pound (half of 15 pounds) challenge from the 15 in 2015 group on Ravelry, as well as participate in the monthly challenges at the Spin Your Stash group.
• Work on knitting down some personal stash.  I recognize I have "work" type knitting that I do, which is mostly with my shop yarns, but I'd also like to make a dent in my personal yarn stash that's been languishing for the last couple of years.  I own some nice yarns.  They need to be more than just skeins in a bin!
• Read 50 books in 2015.
• Spend some focused time on charity knitting. I've already mentioned the Mittens for Akkol group, and I plan to make use of some of my stash knitting to go towards projects they need.  I'm making an effort to get some mittens done before I move on to socks, since the kids have requested mittens this year specifically, but I've got plenty of yarns in stash to work on both.
• Be mindful of my fun time/free time.  See above re: "work" knitting.  Sometimes I get so target-locked on deadline things, I forget how good a little mental health break is for me to feel reinspired and rejuvinated.  I'm going to try to make sure I don't get too focused on deadlines in 2015. 
• Get out and walk several times a week.  I've had to give up running this year, but I do enjoy the 2-mile loop around our neighborhood, and I can certainly walk that instead of running.  A great excuse to take the high-energy 9-year-old "puppy" out with me too.