Mission Possible 2008

I've been waffling about goals for 2008 (in a number of areas of life, but let's start with knitting), and I found La's Mission through TurtleGirl's Bloggy Thing. It could not be more perfect for me! I have a lot of abandoned projects in-the-making, not much knitting time, and too much yarn to justify additional purchases. I've been organizing Ye Olde Stashe and thinking I really ought to do more de-stashing, but really, I need to make some plans for the yarn I want to use and figure out what is never going to happen.

Here is the challenge:

The saying goes that yarn and fiber does not have an expiration date. This is about change. Fiber that has been sitting in your stash…

-Find it!
-Remember when you bought it!
-Remember what did you want to do with!

Look for:
12 things – could be 12 balls of sock yarn for 12 pairs of socks
12 balls of yarn that you refuse to throw out or that are left over from another project
12 balls of roving
12 WIPs
12 UFOs…

The clock is ticking. Everything – meaning the 12 things you picked - needs to be gone by December 31, 2008. It is up to you to achieve your goal and finish 12 possible missions.

You can…

…Fullfill its original destiny!
…Do something completely different!
…Donate it!
…Throw it out!
…Set it on fire! But then we want to see the video on YouTube!

The goal is to get these 12 items out of your stash by the end of 2008!

And here are a few rules:

1. You commit to the 12 tasks and put your list either on the Ravelry group or on your blog.
2. You finish all of your tasks by December 31, 2008.
3. If you don’t accomplish your goal, you will have to donate the selected items.

So, I am going to actually post my 12 goals, and maybe stick them on the template so I don't forget about them. My larger goal is one FO per month (I know, this is unbelievably sad and pathetic, but I didn't even come close last year), but here are my 12 stash items and my plans for them:

1. Gryffindor Sock Yarn: I want a pair of Gryffindor socks for me this year. I made a pair for Matt and then lost momentum and didn't make mine.

2. Opal Sock Yarn in Tiger: I bought this to make a pair of socks for Matt for Christmas 2005. Enough said.

3. Opal Sock Yarn from Christmas: I got this at Christmas, and I'm working on Waving Lace Socks for me. On the needles.

4. Lorna's Laces in Vera: socks for me.

5. Lorna's Laces in Happy Valley: socks for me.

6. Tons of Peruvian Silk from elann.com in orchid: Destined to be a Henley Perfected.

7. Malabrigo in Velvet Grapes: Simple Knitted Bodice for me. On the needles.

8. Rowanspun 4-Ply in Siren: Tussie Mussie for me. On the needles.

9. Zephyr Wool Silk in Black: Irish Diamond Shawl on the needles for ages. Meant to be a Christmas 2007 gift for my mother-in-law, but fizzled out, and hanging out on the needles.

10. Sunshine Yarns in Strawberry Banana: either socks or something for Lilah.

11. Lilah's Noro Silk Garden: Only one skein, which makes it challenging. I have to find something to do with this and knit it for her before the end of the year.

12. 7 balls of Peruvian Silk in dark purple: Find something to do with it and knit it! Maybe for Lilah, because she loves purple.

I have older stash yarn, including a really annoying bag of Debbie Bliss Wool Cotton in various colors, Debbie Bliss Merino Aran in various colors, and a ton of feltable worsted weight in various colors, so I'll call it a bonus if I get rid of them this year. This list goes with my determination to knit socks this year, and except for the Irish Diamond Shawl, it may actually be do-able. We'll see! I'll save progress photos for next post, since this knitting section is pretty big.

Reading: I was reading, erm, romance novels. Ahem. But now I'm reading Alex and the Ironic Gentleman, a juvenile fantasy novel that I bought entirely for the title (but I guess a smidge for the pirate-y cover). It's extremely odd. I thought it would be more of a pirate adventure, but so far, not so much. It's very meandering, but I'll wait until it's done before deciding if that works or not. I like the voice, which is a narrator in the Dear Reader tradition, but I'm starting to wonder where the heck it's going. Still no sign of the Ironic Gentleman (a pirate ship) halfway through.

Writing: Not a thing, darn it. I need to have a goal for writing in 2008. Maybe "Do some writing" would work. Ten words a month? Actually, I'd like to actually complete a draft of the murder mystery this year, which requires some help from Lilah and Matt. As I was typing this, FedEx brought my writing desk! I'll set it up at Lilah's next nap, whenever that may be.

Cooking: I made some kickin' granola (well, if granola can be described as kickin'). My first attempt was not that great. I was inspired by a Cooking Light recipe in the December issue, and it just didn't work out that well. My husband said nicely that it was okay, but he didn't like "those chewy things." "Which chewy things?" I asked. "The apricots? The dried cherries?" He didn't know. I mostly thought it was sort of blah. So I took this granola recipe I found on allrecipes.com and cut it in half because it looked like it would feed a platoon. I also cut down on the honey and oil, because, well just look at the nutritional info. I added vanilla and cinnamon because of the aforementioned boring granola experience. I thought it was really nice, and Matt liked it too. I made it with the original proportion of sesame seeds, which was A LOT of sesame seeds, so I cut the amount (reflected below).

Great Granola

INGREDIENTS
3 cups rolled oats
1/2 cup sliced almonds
1/2 cup walnut pieces
1/2 cup pecan pieces
1/4 cup sesame seeds
1/2 cup ground flax seed
1 cup shredded coconut
1/2 cup unsalted sunflower seeds
1/4 tsp salt
1 tsp cinnamon
1/4 cup canola oil
1/2 cups honey
1/4 cup apple cider
1 tsp vanilla
1/2 cup raisins
1/2 cup dried cranberries

DIRECTIONS
Preheat the oven to 300.
In a large bowl, stir together the oats, almonds, walnuts, pecans, sesame seeds, flax seed meal, coconut, sunflower seeds, salt, and cinnamon. Combine oil, honey, cider, and vanilla in a microwave safe measuring cup and microwave for 2 minutes on high, stirring every 30 seconds, until mixture is well-combined and warm. Pour over the oat mixture, and stir to coat evenly. Spread out in an even layer on a jelly roll pan coated well with cooking spray.
Bake for 20 minutes in the preheated oven, until the oats and nuts are toasted, stirring once halfway through cooking. Immediately after it comes out of the oven, stir in the raisins and dried cranberries. Let stand until cooled, and stir again to break up any large clusters. Store in an airtight container at room temperature.

I also made hummus and baba ghanosh. And this awesome black bean soup from the Jan/Feb Cooking Light. Even Lilah loved it, and it was easy.