As I mean to go on.

Goals, not resolutions.  I may be resolved to accomplish at least some of these, but we'll see how the year goes.  Quoting Marcus Aurelius:  “If a thing is humanly possible, consider it within your reach.”

So here are my plans for 2026, beginning, of course, with Reading.

The poster is from the Library of Congress'
Works Project Administration Poster Collection
in the Prints and Photographs Division, and
is from Illinois!  The Chicago-based WPA
Art Project, between 1936 and 1941, by Hazlett.

Again I'll plan to read 18 books, starting as I did the last two years with this one:

It seemed appropriate to read before my New Year's yoga class.  I found a radio show with guidance about living with unresolved questions that links into the teaching, and also to some other goals.  Next up is the book for January Science Fiction & Fantasy Book Club.

Second, yarning.  Knitting, crochet, spinning, weaving, embroidery, sewing, whatever.  All of them.  And once again, attending Carolina Fiber Fest, Maryland Sheep & Wool, and DFW Fiber Fest.  Plus having some other fiberous and yarny adventures.  Hopefully finishing some UFOs.

Third, charitable works, which for me often involve yarn.  I plan to give another 100 hats to the Charter Oak Cultural Center in honor of Carol Fine, a woman from my congregation who died last summer and was always making hats for them to hand out to children in the after school programs and other people.  We often saw each other at programs, each working on some item for charity.  I'll likely do a bunch of other things - and maybe finish a blanket for Warm Up, America!  Or at least make progress.

Fourth, cooking, and since the column I've been writing has shifted to alternate (odd-numbered) months, I may get back to documenting some work on historical recipes.  There are a few I've wanted to make, and I might try one of them, or a variation on it, today.  After eating the obligatory hoppin' john, of course!  I made a potful and took half to my parents yesterday along with a small bottle of sparkling cider, since they aren't champagne people.

Fifth, new learning and adventures.  Every month I will do one new thing, whether a class to learn something new, or trying some very different recipe, or going to a new restaurant, or something of that sort.  I've lived in the new place for a couple of years and there are so many places I've wanted to explore and haven't gotten to yet.  In the last week, I went to two: a coffeeshop with a library attached, and The Scrap Exchange.  I probably won't count visiting local yarn shops, since that's part of my job as a Guild officer.

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How did I start 2026?

• Reading
• Yoga
• Eating hoppin' john
• and cookies
• Drinking Diet Dr. Pepper®
• Watching videos by some of my favourite YouTubers
• Knitting (the cardigan for me)
• Long walk outside
• Baking bread
• Eating bread with cheese
• Listening to music
• Crocheting (something for charity)
• Eating ice cream!
• No nap, but going to bed "early" - with a book.  😉

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Back to the beginning: Classical Wisdom offered three ways to achieve your resolutions (or goals) from the ancients:

• Admit your ignorance  (Socrates)
• Don't just talk, take action  (Marcus Aurelius)
• Realize that you are capable of change  (Aristotle)

And now for 365 possibilities stretching ahead.  Onwards!

A friend posted this wish for the New Year to his friends.

Not quite as planned.

But does any year go to plan?

I have given up on reading another book, because it is rather dense.  Only 106 pages, but written in the early 19th century and very much in their style.  That would take me over 8,000 pages for the year, which isn't much compared to some I know, but this is my end result:

I actually read 30 books, but Goodreads doesn't count re-reads.  Looking at my lists I realized that I forgot to record the paperback I read on the trip to Paris (only because it was set in Paris) so I added it.

Looking at the "2025 Reading Challenge" list, I read books meeting these categories:

• 2.  Set in a different Country and Continent
• 3.  Includes Folklore and Legends
• 4.  Includes Robots or A.I.
• 7.  A Plague or Virus
• 8.  About Black History
• 9.  Nonfiction About an Interest
• 12.  An Animal Protagonist
• 14.  Set in Favorite Season
• 15.  Set in More Than One Time Period

I did a LOT of reading for the Science Fiction & Fantasy Book Club, so didn't have time for as many other genres as were listed.  I did finish a couple of the partly-read books (presuming I remember correctly which ones they were) but didn't read the other two Annette Funicello books although I had opportunities when I probably should have done so.

I've made 141 items this year, of which over 100 went to charity, so that's another resolution overdone.  I didn't finish the blanket for Warm Up, America! but did donate a number of scarves and a couple hats and blanket pieces.  I also donated scarves to Thrive, and a number of hats to a local collection, a few to the Blue Elves, and then the box of 100 hats as a memorial.

As for other goals:  I didn't do the cooking ones, although I cooked a lot.  I finished three shawls for me, counting the Advent Office Shawl, but not the cardigan.  Instead of the one of Knitting Buddha yarn I've been working on one from another DFW Fiber Fest vendor, and am on the final (LONG) border - which by a holiday miracle, came out at just the right number of stitches on the first go!

I missed the NC State Fair deadline again, and was very disappointed at my results from the Carolina Fiber Fest entries.  I'll try to improve this year.

No holiday kits were completed, but I was out of town for the arts & crafts show.  Maybe I'll get things done for next fall?

On the up side as the year fades, I have clean sheets on the bed and a clean sleep shirt, the sink is empty of dishes, and I don't need to do laundry tomorrow.  I was able to use a floating holiday yesterday, and have turned off my alarm for tomorrow morning.

Closing In.

The end of the year is nigh, and I might finish one more book and one more knitted item.  This is the one I am currently working on, rather focused to see whether I can finish:

The body is handspun from Knitting Lagniappe, and the border is from Bombshell Dyeworks.  I think I have buttons that will work, in my buttonbox.  I am going to make the sleeves slightly longer, but don't have enough yarn for them to be full-length.  Yes, this is a rarity - something for me!

A contented day.

Family celebration of Christmas today, part of it was happiness that none of us were "on call" for work, nor felt an obligation to sidle off to work for a bit.  We ate a reasonable (vegetarian and gluten-free) brunch, complete with snacky bits of cheese and multiple desserts.

Most of the gifts we exchange are donations to favourite charities.  I had token gifts for the family: dark chocolate covered apricots for my parents; socks with the Hot Wheels® logo for my brother, who owned and played with many as a boy; compost for my sister-in law, who directed it to a local farm; National Parks water bottles for my younger niece and her partner; and for the elder niece, a hat:

When I mentioned to my mother on Tuesday that I was struggling to find a token gift appropriate for my older niece, my mother suggested a warm hat because my niece's job includes working with students in a community garden, and it's been cold.  I sent a message to my niece asking for her three favourite colours, because I know she has a black coat and didn't want to make a black hat, especially on short notice.  She responded that evening.

Then I had to dig to find enough yarn in her choices of black, green, and pink.  I found a skein of handdyed yarn in pink with bits of black, and some leftover green.  I decided to use a pattern I've knit many times, doubling the pink/black to get the correct thickness.  I started on Wednesday morning, and spent the evening watching holiday videos and knitting.  I woke early and managed to finish with plenty of time to wrap the gifts and arrive at my parents' house with time to help set up.

The hat fit, it's soft enough to suit my niece, and she's happy to have it when the weather gets cooler again.  Today was unusually warm, especially for Christmas Day.

Eight nights of light.

It was a stunning beginning to the holiday as we learned of the terrorist attack in Bondi Beach.  And the terrorism continues throughout the world, with synagogues and other Jewish buildings receiving bomb threats, as so many of them have in the last two-plus years since the attacks of October 7, 2023.  Of course these attacks didn't start then, but they have tripled and multiplied even more than that.  It's as if the attacks let people feel empowered to bring their anti-Jewish views and intentions into the streets, the gathering places, the eyes of the world.

And there is the other side, which are people coming together in support, to do good deeds to overcome the evil that is happening, to show that just as the candles each evening overcome the darkness of the night, so too can the goodness in the world overcome the darkness that threatens to wash over us.

One of the observations in my rabbis' Hannukah message to the congregation really resonates with me:  "Perhaps, the miracle of Chanukah is not that there was enough oil for the menorah to last eight days, but rather, that on the first day, when they saw how much oil was left, that the Maccabees had enough faith to go ahead and light it anyway."  This is something I've often thought as well: the miracle is that their faith held despite everything that had happened to them.  In many ways, that is how it feels to be Jewish today.

These are the videos I posted this year:

If Lin-Manuel Miranda Wrote a Hanukah Musical - Jared B. Goldsmith

A 'Wicked' Hannukah - Six13  (and the Maccabeats' one seems even more applicable this year)

I'm Spending Chanukah in Santa Monica - Tom Lehrer (because it's Tuesday) performed by Honest 2 Betsy and Ravi Round the World

Puppy for Hannukah - Daveed Diggs

Happy Hanukkah - Matisyahu (it's a live session so the audio isn't great)

Dancing with the Stars' special dance, the first time they have celebrated Hanukah, plus Celebrating Channukah on the International Space Station

Burn - the Maccabeats, one of my favourite Chanukah videos

On the eighth day, two with 'eight' in the name, Ocho Kandelikas (in Ladino) and Eight Nights, One Heart

Again this year I bought the ChemKnits Creations Channukah box for myself:

Some days came with stitch markers or a little light.  On the bottom photo, it is Day 1 on the far right and across to Day 8 on the far left, plus the bonus skein at the top.  This way each of the miniskeins is 10gm and the extra is 20gm to give a total of 100gms in fingering or DK weight.  My favourites this year are Day 7 (sadly, sold out) followed by Day 5 and the bonus skein.  Now to figure out what to make.

Almost three feet a day.

After finishing the scarf I took with me on the trip last week, I pulled out a skein from a stash I have there (purchases when the local Joann stores closed) and started a scarf.  This is what I knit in about a day - it's slightly past because I continued on Monday before I left, but I marked where I stopped on Sunday night and this is what I knit in a day:

   

Of course, I was doing a lot of sitting and knitting as we went to a play and then out to supper, and I wasn't driving, plus it is the very basic garter stitch on only 24 stitches on US#8 needles.

After returning home I finished the hat I'd left behind, which is the 100th hat for the community center afterschool collection.

Hat #100 is on the right; on the left is the next hat, which
starts the collection for next year.  There is a lot of the
colourway of Hat 100, apparently they are show leftovers.

I'll get them washed and tagged and ship the box right after Christmas, because there is no reason for them to go into the holiday craziness.

Now they can be shown.

Almost every year since it began (when I was living in Dallas and attending the shows was easier) I've gone to see "The Beulaville Baptist Book Club Presents the Bur-Less-Q Nutcracker".  It's fun and silly and the male lead does everything from en pointe ballet to tap to handing out pickles to the audience.

A few years ago a friend I took decided that she'd enjoyed herself so much that she wanted to give thank-you gifts to the cast and crew, so she made everybody a facecloth.  (She actually made several more than were needed, so people could choose.)  I decided to make some fun soaps to give them also.

We've continued the tradition (one year I found some solid lotion bar kits and made those, but haven't had enough of the compound since) every year, and when I wasn't sure I'd get back for the production I left the soaps with my friend on an earlier trip.  It's fun and the cast and crew seem to love them.

This year, I finally decided to make a very fiddly design with a mould I was tempted to buy a few years ago.  They came out well, but I promised to keep the photo secret until after they were distributed:

In addition to the gingerbread people - of course scented with
"Gingerbread Cookie" - I made snowflakes of "Fresh Snow" and
little gold-speckled crowns (three designs) in "Woodland Elves".

I also found a kit to make a knitted pickle for the male lead (who also writes and choreographs the show - and yes, everything gets freshened each year, just like traditional Christmas shows often are), and will post a picture of it when I return home as I will finish it whilst traveling.

In addition to the knitted pickle - which he LOVED - I gave
him the lollipops, since there are some running jokes about
both lollipops and pickles.  Turns out he'd heard of these but
not found any.  I said they could sell these as concessions.

Update on the knitting shown in my last post:  I finished the scarf yesterday and am leaving it here, as I usually donate scarves to Warm Up, America! at DFW Fiber Fest.  The hat is at home; it was close to being finished when I left and I didn't want to do the last bits while traveling.  I'll finish once I return home and then wash and pack the hats and ship the box.