Almost Finished!

Here I am, the Sunday after the holiday, and I finished almost everything. What a relief!! Susan loved her shawl, Lauren loved her bag, I think Carla liked hers.... The sock-monkey hats were a big hit, made everyone laugh, which was what I intended! Ian seemed to like his sweater, and to appreciate the I in lieu of B for Butthead. I, however, did not finish the slippers for UJ. He doesn't know about them, though, so no problem!! Roberta LOVED her stocking, and Brenda went nuts for her bag, both gratifying reactions.....
I look back, and I am pleased with the reactions. But I can't help saying, THAT was all the presents I made?? Seriously?! Since July??? It seems like a lot of obsessive knitting for such a short list. Maybe that is the anti-climatic after-holiday blues talking.... All in all, that just reinforces my vow to knit only for myself this coming year!
Now, we all know that probably isn't true.... I still have to finish the bag that Brenda commissioned. And I still have to sew Meredith's sweater together, though the knitting is done and it steam blocked beautifully! And I have the 2/3 done Nantucket jacket for Mom to finish. So, see, there will be knitting for others thrown in there.... I started off the vow right, though, by immediately knitting four blocks for my afghan. That makes me so happy!!!!
AND, Christmas presents from Mom, Susan, and UJ have done nothing but encourage me to knit for Me, Me, Me!! I got the fair isle bag kit that I wanted, and the yarn is great!! I can't wait to start that. I got the yarn for the Minimalist Cardigan for our knit-along, which I am also very excited about.... Though, since Mommy is making one for Anna, it may be a while before she wants to make another one....
That's ok, I have other stuff to work on!! Because I also got two, count 'em, two gift certificates to Webs!! Now I can finish my afghan and more.... It will require some strategy. I got 100$ in certificates, and I need four more skeins of Kureyon for the Lizard Ridge. That leaves me with bunches of certificate money left!! AND, it only makes sense to get at least 125$ worth in a single order, because they offer 25% off after that amount. So not only will I get 100$ worth of yarn, but I will get an EXTRA 25%.
What do I want the yarn for? The Sylvi? I am in love with that project, but I got discouraged by working the swatch... Hmmm.... Like I said, this will require some strategy!!