Twenty Eleven here we come

I guess it's tradition, to make resolutions on the first day of the year. This year I'm going with something slightly different (for me at least). Crafting goals!

I am realistic enough to realise that I cannot possibly hope to focus on everything in the year ahead, so I am going to have to relegate some of my hobbies to the back shelf once more. Some things are unfortunately more important than others, and as one of my main goals this year is to qualify as an accountant, I need to ensure I have enough time available for studying and revision. So some of my hobbies are going to be (once again) relegated to the back shelf and put aside. Drawing, painting and any ambitions I had towards learning a new instrument will all have to wait for another year.

The year will be no fun, though, if all I do is work and study. So at the very least, I shall attempt to complete these modest goals:

Photography

These goals have already been outlined in a previous post, but I will list them again for completeness:

• One picture a week for a year
• One picture for each season
• One picture a day for a month
• Object photo challenge

Knitting/Crochet

• Finish my current WIPs before starting anything new (the tiger, clownfish and rectangle granny, specifically)
• Crochet my first item of clothing, potentially this top I found on Ravelry
• Make gifts for friends currently expecting babies (bit of time pressure on this one, as baby 1 is due fairly soon, and baby 2 is due in May). I suspect the pale yellow yarn I was given for Christmas will come in handy for this!
• Learn more "advanced" knitting techniques. At the moment I can do a basic garter and stocking stitch (and I did one lace scarf that had YO and knit2tog) but I've seen some lovely knitted patterns on Ravelry that I'd love to have a go at which I suspect require me to be a bit more competent. Something like this, or this.
• I'd like to add in some sort of crochet X number of Ys but I have no idea what that would be. Maybe a new amigurumi a month or something?

Painting Warhammer Miniatures

An element of my craftiness not yet explored by this blog, but something that I love doing but did far too little of this year. So to compensate, here are some targets for me to hit over the next twelve months:

• Finish painting my High Elf Bloodbowl team. They've been half painted for about a year now, so it's about time.
• Convert and paint some of the individual star player models we've had planned for ages.
• Base every single model that gets painted in this house. I want to be able to say, on 31st December 2011, that there is not one single miniature in this house that has been painted but is still standing on a bare base.
• Make a decent go at painting my Orc army. Ok, I probably won't get the whole thing done, as there's something like 150 models at current count. I'll do a post in a few days and elaborate on this, as I need to sit down and go through the army and see what is what,

Making Music

So I've put learning the cello on the back burner for another year, but I am rather determined to let 2011 be the year I finally get back into the habit of playing the piano. To do this, here are some goals;

• Practice regularly. As in, at least once a week to begin with.
• Get back up to speed on the pieces I already know how to play. Specifically:
• Beethoven's Moonlight Sonata
• Chopin's Nocturne No 19 (Op 72 No 1)
• Field's Nocturne
• Learn and master some new pieces. Specifically:
• Chopin's Rainbow Prelude
• Chopin's Waltz No 7 in C sharp minor
• Joe Harnell's The Lonely Man
• Danny Elfman's Corpse Bride theme and Victor's Solo

That's probably enough to be getting on with. After all, I still need to leave time for things like roleplaying, climbing, swimming, cycling and hiking! I'll try and keep you all updated with my progress!

Happy New Year!