A few goals for January

I'd like to be one of those people who make itemized lists of what they plan to accomplish. Instead I just make vague lists with no time frame attached, with items that are easily be pushed aside at will. So, this year I'm going to copy Dawn and make monthly lists. We'll see how long it lasts...

What I Hope Intend to Accomplish in January 2008
1) Finish the Anastasia Socks for my grandmother, which were a Christmas present.
2) Finish a secret gift project that I really can't show you (Sadly, as I might advice on it!) as I suspect the recipient might be reading.
3) Finish the Drops Swing Cardigan, which is currently at the upper sleeve stage.
4) Knit a hat for Rembrandt, which will be a belated Christmas present. An army green skein of Manos is wound and ready next to the sofa.
5) Finish the Carpathia Hat I'm knitting to go with the Carpathia Scarf (No, you aren't losing your mind, you haven't seen the scarf or the hat.). This might be dodgy because I'm really winging the pattern on the hat, and it's lacy. I'm charging along but I fear the decreases might get a bit interesting. Maybe I'll just do the top in stockinette...
6) Cast-on and knit 5 inches of the Ivy League Vest. I'm SO excited about this project but I feel like some of the others really have to be accomplished first.
7) Design my ski hat, as it's really past the time to have done that, being January and all, with the snow falling fast!
8) Pick out a pattern and yarn for a semi-secret gift that I'll probably blog about whilst being coy about the recipient and occasion.

Anne-Marie and I were planning to both knit Bird in Hand Mittens over Christmas, but I didn't get to mine due to items 1&2. I'm not sure how she's doing with hers, but I've not heard mention of them. I'd like to add them to the list but I think I'll just have them in my mind and cast-on if it suits me. I see a lot of things on my list, but most of them are small(ish) or mostly finished already, so we'll see. I reserve the right to add projects as needed for sanity/gifting/procrastination/etc.
I think January might be a pretty busy month for me. I have to give another talk next Wednesday (I plan to largely recycle the one I gave in December), a journal club (basically another talk, but short and on someone else's research) next Thursday, and prepare a poster for the annual American Academy of Sciences meeting in mid-February. Plus, I'm taking the second term of the science writing class I took last fall, as well as doing some copy-editing for the magazine that is partly attached to the class. I'm also taking pilates, at 8:00am (eek!). Oh, and I'm supposed to be finishing up experiments to write my first research paper. And I'd like to go skiing a few times, if I get my hat finished!
You know what I've just realized? I mistype "the" as "hte" almost half of the time...