2010 was a pretty good year overall. Not everything went as planned. (Does it ever?) Even still, I think I was blessed by always having love, happiness, good health (mostly), and the wonderful Baby Man.

2010 was also a year in which I tried to focus more on the things I really liked, rather than on just accepting whatever. In my search I came across quite a few things that made me really happy, and I thought I would share some of them with you.

• Favourite etsy Shop – Annabelle’s Art –  Annabelle and her mom Ninon create incredibly beautiful cards in all sorts of themes. You’ll also find necklaces, stitch markers for knitting, and occasionally some other surprises. If you’d like to know more about Annabelle, who is a special needs child adopted by Ninon, check out their etsy profile.

• Favourite Website – Ravelry – I can’t even begin to calculate the amount of time I have spent on Ravelry this year. It is the ultimate site for knitters and crocheters, offering an enormous (user generated) database of patterns (free and for purchase) and yarns. It also offers the ability to record all of your yarn stash and your projects. The forums are the heart of Ravelry, though, and through them I’ve made some wonderful online friends and learned more about knitting and crochet in the past two years than I ever expected to learn in my entire life. If you are a knitter or crocheter and haven’t joined Ravelry, you really should. And look me up, my Rav ID is Silverlotus. (Big surprise, eh?)

• Favourite Book – The Complete Idiot’s Guide to Amigurumi by June Gilbank (AKA PlanetJune) – I’m sure you are all aware of my love for PlanetJune’s designs. In this book she offers a wealth of information about how she comes up with her fabulous creations, and how you can create your own. Also included are four new PlanetJune patterns, including a boy and girl.  (Honourable mentions go to Cookie A.’s Knit. Sock. Love., Wendy Johnson’s Toe-Up Socks for Every Body, and Bill Bryson’s At Home: A Short History of Private Life.)

• Favourite Tutorial – Missy Ann’s Scissor Crypt Tutorial – Not only did she co-host thirty-one days of giveaways, but she also treated us to two tutorials in October. I have made some needle minders (and totally forgot to share pictures!), but I haven’t tackled the scissor crypt yet. I do, however, have two little coffins sitting behind my monitor, just waiting for me to find the time.

• Favourite Yarn – Crystal Palace Panda Cotton for socks and Bernat Satin for amigurumi – Yes, neither of these yarns are new, but I did discover my love for them this year. Panda Cotton is a great choice for socks if you can’t knit with wool (or are knitting for someone who can’t wear wool). It wears well, but can be a bit difficult to knit with since it likes to untwist. The final product is great, though. As for Bernat Satin: it is soft, comes in fabulous colours, and isn’t squeaky like some acrylic can be. Overall, it is my choice for amigurumi.

• Favourite Event – It is a toss up between Gitta’s Getaway in April, and the CreativFestival in October. Both events were all about stitching and spending time with other stitchers. I got a chance to stitch, shop, and spend time with some people I don’t get to spend enough time with. Both events will be different in 2011, and I’m looking forward to them a great deal. However, I won’t be attending the retreat part of Gitta’s Getaway this year, just the new Needleworkers’ Marketplace and perhaps a class or two.

• Favourite Finish – Sewing the Seeds by Teresa Wentzler, Jennifer Aikman-Smith and Karen Weaver – I stitched this as part of the SAL I hosted through the TW BB. It turned out so much better than the cover photo. I haven’t framed it yet, unfortunately.

What were your favourites of 2010? Which movie or book did you love? What design did you have to have? Is there anything you’d like to share so we can all know about it?

Like most people, I’m sure, my thoughts tend to turn to organization at the end of the year. And, since I’d rather not clean out the cupboards or closets, I decided to tackle my fabric stash. So, I dumped out the box on the bed, removed everything from their plastic bags (which they shouldn’t be stored in anyway) and sorted it all by colour.

My Fabric Stash (mostly)

That’s it, nearly every piece of fabric I have. There are about five or six projects that have their fabric stored with the chart, but this is the majority of my stash. (I also have a small stash of adia tucked away for a rainy day.) Clearly, I have a lot of blue fabric. I also have enough blue/purple mix to rate its own pile. I’m very low on red, and I don’t have any yellow. But, really, I’ve never stitched on yellow and rarely use red, so that is no problem. I have a little less white than I would like, and I think I’ll keep my eyes open for a deal on some.

The fabric is all back in its box now, wrapped in acid-free tissue paper, much better organized than before.

When going through all this fabric, I was a little bit surprised that I could easily pick out which hand-dyed pieces were from Enchanting Lair, or Silkweaver, or elsewhere. It is very true that each dyer has their own style, even when the colours used are similar.

I was thinking about joining a fabric club next year, but I’m not so sure any more…