"If I can keep all my resolutions, this will definitely be the best year ever. I almost wish it was the year 2000 again because that was more than a new year--it was a new millennium. And these resolutions are millennium-worthy!"
- Marissa Moss, Amelia’s Must-Keep Resolutions for the Best Year Ever! 2008

A few days after New Year's, my husband Rody and I were in a busy waiting room at the University of Iowa Dental College. Our youngest daughter Lelia had a check-up.

Rody had settled into his morning's Wall Street Journal and I had begun knitting. Spread out on my needles was the fresh start of a healing shawl I had frogged the night before. My re-knitting had to do with trusting the pattern’s recommendations – varying the number of increase stitches to allow the shawl to hug the shoulder--something I didn't do the first time, but had vowed to do this second round. The shawl pattern was an easy one, mostly stockinette stitch. The already long rows of straight knitting freed me to observe the room. People watch.

She walked in with husband. A garter stitch headband in a gay red held back her thick dark curls. They sat across from us. We smiled a hello at each other. Then, minding my waiting room etiquette, I left them alone, returning to Rody and my knitting.

Later, on her way out, we chatted and exchanged seasonal pleasantries. Neither of us introduced our spouses. We had met only recently at the local yarn store and I wasn't sure of her name. I'll bet she didn't know mine either. And it didn't matter. We knew our common bond.

"A knitter?" Rody asked after she left.

I nodded my yes, making a recommended increase on the shawl.

"It's like tennis," he said. Correctly pointing out the club-like aspect of my changed knitting world.

Click here to download card [PDF]

Not that long ago, before blogs, Ravelry, Facebook and newsletters like this one, I was a person who knit. Back then, it was a solitary pursuit, almost never done in the company of other knitters. These days I define myself as a "knitter," and feel, like so many others, a part of huge global community that includes those I happen to met in my hometown, or on a blog from Finland. Our club membership is the passion we share. So I knew when I was thinking about my 2011 knitting goals, so were many other knitters.

This December, the knitter's World Wide Web buzzed with our declarations, confessions, vows, promises and pledges. Many of the public proclamations resonated with my own hopes; finish UFOS, master new techniques, organize the stash, knit the stash, bust the stash, donate the stash, knit for others. Knit more. Socks. Cowls. Sweaters.

It's mind boggling how much we knitters aspire to do. To the list of this year's knitter's goals, I'd like to add a few modest ones of my own: Learn to darn and put my basket of broken socks back into action this sock-wearing season. Keep my knitting a peaceful, quiet place. Accept my mistakes and move on without stress--like re-knitting the healing shawl. Enjoy my yarn and needles. Pay attention to the pattern. Take careful measurements. Make useful gauge swatches. Label and save them.

"It is good to have an end to journey towards; but it is the journey that matters in the end," wrote Ursula le Guin. Resolutions can be helpful on our knitting journey. Serving to remind us of our starting points, alerting us to our arrival at our destinations. And to help us on this path, I've made a handy commitment card. A gentle reminder, small enough to carry in your work bag. From my knitting spot in Iowa City, Iowa to wherever you are in the knitting universe, best wishes for Happy New Year.