A pile of pieces. My showing from yet another month of slacking. It seems I haven't fully recovered from the past months of  mayhem. Yet again, I have completely failed to stay on track and finish my intended projects. 

But, it's a new start. That's what a new year brings, right? And, it's resolution time. 

1. Re-establish and maintain project goals: one sweater, one pair of socks, and one sewing project monthly. It's absolutely attainable, especially in lieu of resolution #2. 

2. Mike and I are joining forces and attempting to live on a single income while stashing away the second. When we started living together, we didn't make any accommodations for our combined finances, rather, we continued to extend ourselves as previously. Three years later, we are attempting to start from scratch. Speaking of scratching, I expect a lot of it, in the company of kicking and screaming over the course of the next year while we adjust to our slightly radical goal. We've been making preparations: New TV (primary source of entertainment): CHECK. Spangled Travel Mug to curb Starbucks and/or Argo temptations: CHECK (btw, best purchase I made last year! You might need one!) And, of course, I loaded up on yarn to keep my fiber purchases at bay.  

3. Finally, since our take-out budget will be reduced significantly as a consequence of resolution 2, frequent cooking is amongst my 2011 pursuits. We LOVE to eat. Keeping things interesting and delicious is absolutely crucial. Experimentation is the name of the game! 


And so, I start this year where I left-off last year but with a bit more motivation! To ease into the New Year, I'll finish my Oblique sweater. 

What are you resolved to accomplish this year? 

WOW! What a whirlwind! I hope your holiday season was as enjoyable as my own. I had a lot of time to spend with family, friends, and our family furry babies. Two years, now,  our holiday gift giving has gone to the dogs... literally. As we are all adults living busily away from the nest, it seems less important to spend money on each other than it does to spend time together, so we forego gift giving in exchange for an annual family get-away! The dogs, unfortunately, don't get to go on vacation, so Santa makes sure to compensate them in the form of toys and treats. They, afterall, are such good sports and tolerate great humiliation on our behalves. 

We skipped gifts. We did not, however, come home empty handed. From, basically, the minute I finished reading Ms. French Press Knits' post on the ideal craft table, I have been yearning after a bedford project table. After thoughtful consideration, I decided that splurging an excess of $1000 on a piece of press-board of furniture was unreasonable. But, I couldn't move on. Melinda provides a variety of alternative options for creating comparables; she created a fabulous version for her own craft space. I wasn't satisfied. When I get my heart set on something, substitutions are very rarely an amenable option. 

What does any of this have to do with anything? WELL. Mike comes from a family with crafty capabilities of their own! In fact, his dad is pretty fantastic at turning a picture into a tangible, 3-dimensional piece of furniture! After doing a bit of my own research, I found Ms. Ana White's wonderful world of DIY; it just so happened that she created building plans for my beloved table!!! And, she made it better (can you believe?!?!) by adding two center drawers! 

Of course, the biggest advantage of a custom project is that you can tweak it to your heart's desire! In order to make the table "condo friendly" Mike's dad knocked a few inches off each side. And, to make it easy on the eyes, he constructed it from solid oak and stained it with a clear varnish. (isn't it lovely!?!?!) Essentially, it's far more solid, stable, AND less expensive than anything you can buy from Ikea. Win/Win/Win! 

The shelves are all adjustable and provide some incredible storage! And, I can slide my computer down into a drawer when I need to clear up some table space for cutting or blocking! 

I'm sure there are instances when a person gets what she thinks she wants and then realizes that she woulda/coulda been happier or at least satisfied with something else. This isn't one of those instances. This table is the stuff dreams are made of, and I'm totally in love! (not to mention melodramatic)

If there's a certain something furniture you've been dreaming about, I really recommend looking into Ana's Plan Catalog!!! Ana has a whole lot of amazing happening over at her place! And, novices are her target audience. The way she simplifies things is INCREDIBLE! Ok. Enough here! Go check her out!