mama urchin

It’s time for that bloggy tradition — the year in review. Last year I set some lofty crafty goals. Let’s see how I did….

I said, Knitting wise I’d like to make more socks using a variety of techniques.

and maybe you can count these:

A pretty pathetic showing, I must admit. It seems that 2008 was instead the year of the mitt:

I said, I’d like to conquer a lace projectand I did just that, not once but twice!

I also said, I am going to knit a sweater for Papa. and it didn’t happen. I’m not even sure why it didn’t happen but I did finish the sweater for my brother which I hope will be the largest sweater I ever make:

I wanted to continue to improve my garment-making skills and I think the proof is in this picture:

Those were some serious garments made with some seriously annoying fabrics. I really feel like I’m starting to understand basic garment construction.

And I was hoping to conquer my fear of knits which didn’t really happen. Maybe 2009 will be the year.

I said I also want to make a bed-sized quilt top — I’ll probably send it out to be quilted. And that is exactly what I did:

At 68″x68″ it isn’t the size of any bed but is comparable in square inches to a double bed quilt. There are so many reasons I love that quilt.

I wanted to tell you more about some of the great food we’re eating and I think I did, if not here than on flickr.

and I said I really want to try to compost less of our CSA share each week which I’m pleased to say happened. Preserving was the key. I canned more than I have in many years but very little of that was from our CSA share. Instead I started freezing portions of green beans, chard, celery, roasted tomatoes, herbs, and ratatouille.

In fact 2008 was the year I started thinking of our farmer’s market as our grocery store. We’re lucky to have excellent local sources for beef, cheese, chicken, butter, eggs, and vegetables and in 2008 we really started taking advantage of that.

So not too bad 2008, but I have a feeling 2009 is going to be even better. If you are interested in seeing all that I finished in 2008, take a look at my flickr set.