As I mean to go on.

Yes, same title as last year's, but that's what setting intentions and resolutions are all about, yes?  Or as a friend put it, "as you start so you will go on".

So today involved:

• Baking bread
• A yoga class
• A long walk
• Reading
• Drinking Diet Dr. Pepper®
• Crocheting (a charity item, probably no surprise to anybody)
• Knitting (somebody suggested starting a new project with the new year, so I did)
• Chatting and emailing with friends
• Watching videos by some of my favourite YouTubers
• Eating homebaked cookies
• And ice-cream

I also took a nap.

I know many people are feeling this way as the year begins:

Sandra Boynton posted this a few days ago.

Resolutions - Or Goals

Reading:  I set my goal as 18 books to read in 2025, and have a good start because I read three this morning.  Goodreads wouldn't let me count Making Space again (I thought it is wise to start with some guidance for the new year) and then I 'read' two cartoon anthologies:

I'm not really sure that counts as 'reading' but they have words and are officially my first two books of 2025.  I am back to the proper books next.  Additional Goal:  Finish at least two (and ideally all five - I found another one!) of the partly-read books, and finish the other two of the Annette Funicello books.  And I may try to complete this challenge:

Several of these are on my "always" list, so it may
be easy to get about halfway through the challenge.

It's possible some books will count in more than one category.  At least two of the unfinished books qualify, one as #2 (plus possibly #11) and one as #9, and nothing says I have to read the whole book in the year.  My believe is that finishing will count.

Cooking:  I will try to remember to document cooking from historical sources, and to do so at least six months of the year.  Maybe all twelve, if I get inspired.  I will definitely keep cooking; I made hoppin' john to eat today, and had it for breakfast.  And I want to try one new-to-me technique or category of food, so I might have to take a cooking class.

Knitting/Crocheting/Crafting:  I have several goals for this year, most of which are versions of ones from previous years:

• Finish at least two UFOs, and try to keep the Advent Office Shawl from becoming a UFO.  Up to Day 14 and it appears the shawl will be big enough after Day 25, so I am considering what to do for the "Hannukah Advent" part.
• Make at least three items for me, not counting the Advent Office Shawl, preferably at least one cardigan.
• To answer the above two items, I pulled out the 2023 Channukah set I received from Olive and Two Ewes and finally decided on a pattern (not the one I thought of originally for the set), wound yarn and cast on.
• I also looked at shawl patterns for a Paris colourways set I purchased with the goal of having a shawl made before I go there at the beginning of May.  I have a couple additional shawl patterns in mind for my on-trip project.
• I think I have settled on a cardigan pattern for some of the Knitting Buddha yarn I have, if it's the correct weight.  I may adjust if it is not.
• Finish at least one blanket for Warm Up, America!
• Make at least twenty-five items for charity - a fairly low bar for me, but I don't want to get overambitious because I know where that ends.  Plus one is a blanket.
• "Dry January" means no yarn shopping!  The items currently in my Etsy basket don't count.  😉
• I am planning to attend three festivals this year: Carolina Fiber Fest, Maryland Sheep & Wool, and DFW Fiber Fest.  I want to minimize yarn shopping except for those.
• I want to get my application to enter the North Carolina State Fair competitions in on time!  I missed the deadline for 2024, so three items I had planned to enter are now disqualified as everything has to be made in the year since the last NCSF.  I want to enter at least one item in both the Carolina Fiber Fest and the North Carolina State Fair, the former mostly to get feedback.  I'd planned to enter the item from this year in the State Fair competitions, but oh well!
• Finish a bunch of the holiday kits I bought and try to sell them in the local arts & crafts group's holiday sale.  I was out of the country this year so didn't participate.

Much more detail for this year's fiber arts resolutions than in pas years!

And in other subjects, I plan to get three rooms repainted (one is mostly touch-up, but it may look better with a full repainting and I am OK with that) and shelves installed in two of them, then get my books and records unpacked, and make progress towards having a working studio and a working media and guest room.  Part of those require hiring people to do the painting and the shelf-building and -installation, and I keep procrastinating.

Stay tuned.

The final reckoning of 2024.

A friend posted this on social media, and it so, so encapsulates the year:

Looking back at this year's plans, it's amazing how much I didn't do.  And yet, how much I did.

Reading:  After upping my goal to 18 books, I ended up reading 24.  Not as many as some people I know, but enough.  And I have at least four in various stages of being read.

Goodreads sent this around midmonth,
so it doesn't include my final book report.

My shortest book was 92 pages and my longest one was 714 pages.

Cooking:  I forgot about this resolution and didn't cook as many historical things as I wished.  But I did a bunch of cooking, most recently a "smothered pheasant" dish from a 1953 cookbook.  This is just browned bird (I substituted chicken, easier to find) braised under a blanket of onions.  It counts as historical if the recipe is older than I am!  I also made a vegetables dish of roasted onion, butternut squash, brussels sprouts, and after about twenty minutes added fresh cranberries and some pecan halves.  Plus the almost-weekly cheese soufflés for my parents; some weeks I was away on the weekend, or once in a great while we did something different.

Knitting/Crocheting/Crafting:

• I have not finished the shawl from my 2023 list, but I think I saw it when I moved.
• Spinning wheel still needs repair.
• I did not make six things for myself, and the sweater I started with such anticipation has been stalled because the colourway started pooling and I didn't like it.
• Maybe I did make six things?  The "Age of Brass and Steam" shawl, mittens and (much later) a hat of Knitting Buddha's handspun, a "Palmer House" shawl from yarn I purchased at the Carolina Fiber Fest, and a bucket hat.  I think the test-crocheted cardigan was the year before, but I need to find my notes.
• I found the Olive & Two Ewe 2024 yarn challenge, which I'd forgotten about, and did complete a few of the items on it:  adult sweater, scarf, mittens, more scarves, hat, shawls, baby/toddler sweater.  I did not make a bag, slippers, a tea cozy, or a blanket, although I did put together a blanket from pieces made by others.

I made a total of 74 items this year, many of them being hats or scarves for charity.  Those are easy to carry around and work on and often don't take much attention.

I didn't have a resolution about travel, but I did travel, including twice to Europe.  Also a number of places around the country.  I am already making plans for 2025.

Walking:  No resolution about it, but I have done a lot of walking.  I participated in the local library's "Route 66 Challenge" where they had us record walking certain distances, such as "Chicago to St. Louis: 15 miles" or "Needles to Santa Monica: 11 miles".  Of course, the real distances are much longer, but this is for fun.  Since on a normal day I would walk a couple-three kilometers easily, and usually more, I converted those to miles and just entered defaults.  Normal walk? 1.5 miles.  Long weekend walk?  2-3 miles.  Yes, I probably walked more.

At the end of the contest, you could turn in your sheet and try to win a prize.  I almost forgot but wasn't the only person to turn in the sheet on the last day.  To my amazement, I did win a prize!  And speaking of prizes, I've continued to participate in the online theater performances, and they just announced the winners of prizes for this season:

Recapping Lent 2024

There is a stress when you limit yourself, by whatever means.  I really wanted to start some new things, especially when I didn't have a small easy-to-knit project when going to the theater this week.  I ended up repurposing a project for the evening, even though it ended up with a bit of a flaw.

Of the items I quick-started on Fat Tuesday, all have been completed:

Instead of two scarves, the Ferris Wheel in "Evergreen" became a scarf and a hat.  I decided to convert the started bit of knitting, then tried to knit the pattern during part of a theatre show, which did not go well:

Restarted and knitting with light and when I could pay attention, I was able to complete the pattern properly.  Then knit up to make the crown, and since it was long enough, just a bit of garter stitch to finish the bottom edge.

How did I do on the UFO pile?  Progress made, but there are still items in the pile.  I didn't finish the Raven Wings socks, nor the mitts, although I decided to restart the mitts with a skein of yarn I bought at the Carolina Fiber Fest which I thought would look better than the stash yarn.

That reminds me, I should post the things I purchased.  I tried to keep to one smallish fiber bag, but one vendor put their items into a drawstring bag that I like, and the kits at the end didn't fit:

Walnut-dyed on the right.

 

Buy three, third one is 50% off, so.....

 

I might skein and dye these.  Maybe just one of them.

Handspun yarns.  I do have plans for most!

  

The grey for the Raven Wings Mitts.
These are all handdyed on a commercial base.

Non-yarn items I couldn't resist.  Felt is for shoe lining.

These were in the fundraiser fiber tools sale.

As for completing UFOs, I finished the Ghost Ranch Cowl and will partly frog the hat and reknit it in the same stitch pattern, so they are more closely a set:

Another set finished is from a skein of hand-dyed acrylic I purchased at DFW Fiber Fest two years ago.  I bought two skeins from this dyer, and one made a scarf that I donated last year, with a hat from the leftovers that is going to the Blue Elves.  So I made a hat and scarf of this skein, having left it at my friend's house in North Texas, so it was an in-progress item:

I almost finished the blue baby blanket, other than not having enough yarn for the edging.  It's no longer made so I have requests out for people to check in their stashes for the yarn or something similar:

I made only a little progress on the Caledonian Cardigan, because I had trouble with the sleeve decreases, but with time to focus I hope to get it finished.

Something I didn't report as a commitment, but which I'd made, is to write out as many Thank You cards for the military as possible.  A friend of mine is a social worker attached to the Navy at Pearl Harbor, and she asks people to send handwritten cards that she can distribute to the troops.  I'd done a bunch in December and decided to try to write five a day during Lent.

I stocked up at dollar stores, and the cards come in packets of four, six, or eight.  I bought as many of the last two as I could, naturally, and since I have two messages decided it was easier to write a pack a day.  Some days I did more, a few days I had to catch up, and when I was writing at the North Texas Irish Festival during some downtime a couple asked if they could buy some of the cards to give to bands.  I gave them three.

My total through March 31st was 337 cards written.  I fit in another 42 so the mailed box contains 379.  Of course I've begun the next one.  And out of curiosity I checked what the postage would have been if I hadn't used a Flat Rate Box.  The machine said it weighed 9 pounds, 13.2 ounces.  According to the USPS site, the cost would be $33.20 for USPS Ground and $51.95 for Priority Mail.  The flat rate box cost $18.40, definitely the winning choice!

Again, a start. Several starts.

It was the Lunar New Year earlier this week, the Year of the Dragon.  I don't do a big celebration or observance anymore because I don't live someplace that does, and my grandmother, who really loved celebrating (she loved any celebration!) died last May.

I ate dumplings, and a moon cake (saved from the fall Moon Festival, and yes I know it's not traditional for the new year, but it's round which is), and wished people Gong Hay Fat Choi!

Tuesday was Mardi Gras, again not much of a celebration here.  I went to a local bakery and bought a filled donut so I could feel like I'd had the pączki which I'd gotten used to eating in Connecticut.  It was filled with strawberry cream so not traditional, but tasty.

The divot in the icing is from the tongs when I 
selected this one from the case - the frosting is soft.

I also got a mochi donut to eat the next day, for Valentine's Day, and forgot to take a picture but it had the same frosting and sprinkles.  I gave my parents the dark chocolate covered almonds, tucking the packets into their card, which I left when I took my morning walk and put their paper into their garage.  Dad found it when he went to check for the paper and put the envelope at my mother's place at the breakfast table.

Since it was also Ash Wednesday, and the beginning of Lent, I had to start either giving up or doing charitably.  In the give-ups are pork, and generally sausage things (yes, I know, I'm Jewish and shouldn't eat pork - and other than bacon, I pretty much don't, but I eat lots of kinds of chicken and beef and other non-pork sausages) except if I am at a baseball game and it's the most likely food option; and one category of sweets; and starting new fiber items.

I thought the last would help me focus on and finish a few things, but realized it could be a problem because I wanted to have some projects specifically for upcoming trips.  So I took an hour or so on Tuesday evening, instead of trying to finish a group project (more on which in a later post), and started things:

The two on the left are scarves (top one in knitting, lower one in crochet) that I plan to work on at North Texas Irish Festival.  Top middle is a project that I am taking to Spring Training next weekend: The Age of Brass and Steam Shawl in Forbidden Fiber's Pride DK (which has a bit of gold sparkle that doesn't show in the photo), colourway "Merchant Dynasty".  Below that is Granny's Not Square Cowl, the Carolina Fiber Fest crochet-along project, which of course I want to finish before then.  Yarn is an oddball of silk-wool blend, Louisa Harding's Amitola Grande in "Tangerine Dream".  

Bottom right is a corner-to-corner crocheted scarf if I need a charity project, of Premier Yarns Candy Shop in "Blow Pop" (there's more yarn waiting), and the top right is an emergency project (if I need something small and have nothing else before Easter), which is a baby sweater crocheted in sock yarn.  It is doubtful that I will finish more than four of these, especially with other items in progress, but I will keep reporting.

Reflecting, and a Status Check

Sometimes people use a new year to reflect and make changes.  Of course, I generally follow the Gregorian calendar for the major ones, but other new years provide a good time to review, possibly to reset, and evaluate.

Given that I just started six more projects, how am I doing on my resolutions?  I haven't completed any UFOs (and still not located the shawl), but I have almost made a thing for me:

I had a skein of handspun from the Knitting Buddha, and needed a simple item to work on while I was at a fiber arts group last weekend, so I decided to wind it up and work on a plain beanie.  I just wasn't happy with it, and frogged before I thought to take a photo of the progress.  Then I took the two ends, and wound a ball with both together, adding a small knot when I finished to mark the middle.  So if I reach the knot before the mitten is done, I need to add yarn to finish.  However, I've managed to finish this one without reaching the knot.  The ball at the top is the second strand, being wound into its own ball, and below is the remainder of the double-wound ball.  I need to take a row out of the thumb because it's just that much too long.  I have debated whether to make the cuff even longer, but it's probably sufficient as it will tuck nicely into a jacket sleeve or coat sleeve.  The second mitten will go quickly.

There are people in the fiber arts group who can help me repair my spinning wheel.  I'll get back to it after Carolina Fiber Fest as people are very focused on things for then.

I've read three books and made more progress on the really big one at my bedside.  Today I picked up the third book I need to read for the library challenge: "Called To Rise: A Life in Faithful Service to the Community That Made Me" by the former Dallas police chief, David O. Brown.  It resonated for several reasons, including my ties to Dallas; it's Black History Month; and the challenge category is "A Book From A Library Display".

As I mean to go on.

I didn't get the 100th item done in 2023 - I decided a hat might be quick, but because I was partly following a pattern and partly adapting it to a ball of bulky yarn I had on hand, it wasn't.  Gauge is always an issue.

Without entirely expecting it to be quite as much as it was, 2023 was a year when, to quote Rainer Maria Rilke, "we welcome the new year, full of things that have never been."  I am still not happy about moving, although it's clearly good for me to be physically closer to my parents so I am trying to make the best of it.  I've joined a couple fiber groups and may join a historical fiction reading group; the current book is based upon fact, which is the kind I enjoy, but the meeting is the same evening and time as one of the fiber groups, and I have my priorities.  I wasn't sure I could obtain and read the book in time, and given my history for reading on deadline, I really didn't want the pressure just now.

If what you do on the first day sets the year ahead, mine will include yoga (I have done a class each morning of the holiday weekend, and I don't usually do one on Monday, but since it's a day off work, I slipped in the early class), reading, knitting and crocheting and other fiber arts stuff, walks, and spending time with family.

My resolutions for 2024

Reading:  No surprise, I know.  I am again going to tell Goodreads that I will read 12 books, since that is an easy goal.  I've seen people who read well over that, but at least three admit to using audiobooks and I prefer to count the ones I read on paper.  I still haven't adapted to using a screen reader, probably because I work all day at a computer and my eyes like the change.  If I accomplish twelve books read by midyear, I will increase my goal.

Cooking:  Again, I am going to commit to cooking or baking something historical once per month.  Instead of limiting my options to the YouTube channels I follow, I am going to opt also to cook from my old cookbooks and collections of historical recipes.  So I might end up with a year of cooking recipes from the channels, and I might mix things up.   I'll try to follow a channel recipe at least six times, roughly every other month.

Knitting/Crocheting/Crafting:  I have a few plans here:

1. Finish at least two more UFOs.  Including that shawl, when I locate it.
2. Get my spinning wheel repaired, if I cannot figure it out myself.  I've already asked a couple local people who said they will help.
3. Make at least six things for me.  A tall order, since I am so accustomed to making things for others.  A pair of socks or mittens will count as one item, but if I make a hat and matching mittens, that will be two items, not one set.  My rules.

I've already started one item, while watching Michigan win (I didn't get far because it was a tense game towards the end, and I started winding the yarn during the first quarter):

 

And this:

The final reckoning of 2023.

As so many do when a year winds down, I am looking back at my resolutions for 2023 and assessing whether I accomplished them.  The short answer is "no", but I came close with several:

• READING:  According to Goodreads, I have read 18 of the 12 I committed to read this year, but they didn't have a way for me to record one of the books.  So it's really 19.  I only read eight during the Mark Twain House & Museum Reading Challenge period, so I changed my goal there from ten to eight - slightly cheating, but I really thought I'd get more read during those six months.  When I looked at my list for the year I realized I'd forgotten to include one so added it.

The "No Image" is for "Me", Katherine Hepburn's autobiography.

• COMPLETING UFOs:  I did complete the Magical Miniskeins socks, but I didn't make progress on the shawl - it got packed away during my move and I'm not sure where it is right now.  I finished some, but not all, of the baby blankets.  I made quite a few other things - my tally (and I might have missed one or two) was 99 items in 2023, many for charity, some for family or friends.  I may finish a 100th during the online party I'm attending this evening.
• COOKING:  I did quite a bit, but with the move I stalled on my proposal to cook once a month from one of the historical cooking video channels I follow.  I did experiment out of some of my historical cookbooks, and I think I'll try again on the once-a-month cooking/baking from video channels idea.

I also had an unofficial one: To have one week where my FitBit recorded at least a full amount of sleep (it's set for 6.5 hours), the minimum of steps (250) every one of the nine tracked hours, 10,000 steps per day, exercise the minimum amount (20 minutes together) or more each day, and meet the 8km daily goal.  Needless to say, I didn't make it.  I had some weeks that were close, but a bad night of sleep or inattention when my bracelet vibrated so that I missed steps one hour (usually when traveling or in a meeting), and I missed a metric.  While I feel disappointed in myself when I miss one, especially the steps-every-hour metric, I tell myself it is the overall picture that really matters.  This also helps on days when I miss the 10,000 steps requirement, although they are very few; usually I walk more the next day to make up the difference, and all weeks I have exceeded the minimum of 70,000 steps total.

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People in the USA, and I suppose any other country that writes the date in month/date/year format, is making much of today being 12/31/23 - some term it "the waltz date" or something similar because it recites as 123-123.  The rest of the world either laughs or puzzles.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

There is so much to consider for next year.  A good reminder, for those considering what to resolve in 2024:  "Do not be daunted by the enormity of the world’s grief.  Do justly now. Love mercy now.  Walk humbly now.  You are not obligated to complete the work, but neither are you free to abandon it."  From The Talmud.

Apple Hash.

I finally got around to my resolution for cooking a historical recipe, although it's from a book I own, not one of the historical cooking channels.  So I have to catch up on two months of cooking from the YouTube channels.

This is a fairly simple recipe from 1711:

I followed it pretty much as written:

Apple peeled and cut crosswise, core removed.
I ate the peels and the top and bottom bits while cooking.

Butter melting in a pan, and whole wheat flour.

Apples, dipped in whole wheat flour, frying in melted butter.

Carefully turned, browning on the other side.

 Some of the butter and flour bits burned slightly between batches.  It didn't affect the taste, but might be visually unappealing.  I did add butter between the batches and a tiny bit after the flips.

Then I wiped out the pan and used the same one to make the sauce:

Butter and sugar and rosemary for the sauce.
About a tablespoon each of butter and sugar.

Pear wine added - about two or three tablespoons.
Also a couple good pinches of dried rosemary.

I don't currently have fresh rosemary, so made do with dried.  Quantities are guesswork, of course.  Then I simmered on a low flame to reduce the sauce, which made it a rather caramelly.

Pouring over the sauce, which was reduced to
about half its original volume.

And I realized after sampling that I had forgotten to sprinkle on some cinnamon before tasting, although I had it waiting by the stove.

Opinion?  Very buttery, not too sweet.  The wine and the rosemary cut the sweetness of the sauce nicely.  I didn't particularly miss the cinnamon, although I may try this again once I have live rosemary to see how it would be different.  I had a mild apple, and would like to see how something sharper stands up to the frying and sauce.

I did notice that butter leached into the dish, probably from the frying stage:

I didn't sop it up, but if you have bread handy it might not be bad.  All of the sauce was eaten with the apple slices, which were soft but not mushy.  Something of a comfort food or chilly rainy day dish, and today happens to be dreary and rainy.

This is the frontpiece of the book from which comes the receipt:

Quite light on recipes, and heavy on Remedies.  Range is 12th to 18th Centuries.

Full of things that have never been.

The full quote, by Rainer Maria Rilke, is “And now we welcome the new year, full of things that have never been.”   It wasn't in one of his poems, but a letter to his wife, the sculptor Clara Westhoff, written on 1 January 1907.

What are my plans for 2023?  Many of them are the same as they have been, and which I listed last year:

• Cooking
• Reading
• Knitting and Crocheting
• Eating Ice Cream

What shall I do that is new, that "has never been"?  I have some ideas, but as always, there are lists available for those who need help.  Both Parade Magazine and NPR provide sample lists of resolutions.  Another site gives a list of "101 Things to Get Rid of on January 1st", and I am pleased at how many of the items I don't have.  I do have old toothbrushes and socks with holes, but I use these for cleaning - socks make great dusting mitts.

Thanks to a dyer/designer's blog I found the artist who created this list:

While cleaning out some things I found an old list from my congregation.  Surprisingly it contains only seventeen items; usually Jewish lists of this type include eighteen, because the word for "eighteen" in Hebrew is the same as the word for "life": חי (chai)

Again, many are things that I do.  Some are complicated; some are harder.  At the bottom is "Learn Something New".  While earlier they suggest the Hebrew language, there are other new things I can try.  I still haven't figured out what it might be.

So for the moment, these are my

Resolutions for 2023

Reading:  Of course!  I told Goodreads I would read 12 books, and on my  "Resolve to Read Giveaway" entry for Half Price Books I said 16, since they don't have you track.  I'd rather set the bar a bit lower when I am held accountable.  Personally, I am going to try for 18 again.  And yes, as with last year it will include the in-progress books, although first I want to read this one:

Just the title suggests it's a good starting place for a new year.

Completing UFOs:  I still have the second sock of the Magical Miniskeins set, but I am closing on completion as I'm in the leg portion:

Paused because I have to wind the next mini-skein.

While doing some organizing and sorting of things during the year, I've found some others.  Many others.  So quickest to hand as I write this post are a shawl, for which I think I know the pattern, and if not will start something else:

And the other baby blankets in the bin I pulled out when looking for yarn for Warm Up, America! items.

I may add to the list as the year progresses and I decide to work on other items, or just keep track of them as an unearthed UFO when I record their completion.  I know there's a blanket, and at least one other shawl, and at least one mini quilt top, plus one that is pieced but needs to be completed with backing, filling, and edging.

Cooking:  Yes, I'll be doing that.  Today I made hoppin' john (but with merguez instead of andouille sausage), and a blueberry pancake, both of which are traditional in my family.  I will keep making cheese soufflés when I visit my parents.  So what will be my new cooking challenge this year?  I think I'll try to cook once per month from one of the historical cooking YouTube channels I follow:  Tasting History, Townsends, English Heritage's "The Victorian Way" series.  And if I find others, I may try those too.  Franklin Habit has some cookery on his channel, and has blogged a few things, so I may try one of those as well.

Something New:  Still pondering.  I'll let you know what I decide.

The one on the right is from The Reader's Digest, in case you don't recognize the logo.