Resolution Update (Already!)

Yes, it's just Day 2 of the year, but I have an update on the resolutions.  These two are COMPLETED:

The book is one of the two I mentioned as being in-progress, and there were about 140 or so pages to finish.  I woke early this morning and decided that snuggling in my blankets and reading was the perfect thing to do on the Sunday before I return to work.  So I did just that, and finished the book.

The story is a bit confusing, especially if you pick it up midway through after several months' hiatus, but I found my bearings quickly enough.  Overall I enjoyed the book, but I'm somebody who has a love of history who moved into law after a "History of Law" class in my second year at university.

The mittens are one of last year's UFOs, and I completed the weaving-in of ends during tonight's KnitTalk virtual get-together.  This is a better picture of the colours:

Buffalo Wool doesn't do this sort of sampler anymore.  The yarn is a bit scratchy and the mittens are too big for me, so I will sell or donate them.  Yes, the righthand one does need a bit of blocking to sort out the panel of colourwork.

We talked about our resolutions in the KnitTalk get-together, and I gave the ones about finishing my two carry-over UFOs and the pullover.  I'd shown the mittens during show-and-tell 

This leaves the Magical Miniskeins socks and seven more books to finish.  Plus, yes, the other items listed, but I wanted to keep it to these two categories.

Begin as you mean to go on.

 

Some people say it's a good thing to start the new year doing what you intend to do; others say that what you do is an indicator of how your year will go.  I like the former idea a little better, giving autonomy to the practice; tying in with something from this week's parsha or bible study:  "I shall be that which I wish to be."  For those keeping track, this is what I expect to do in 2022:

• Cooking
• Reading
• Knitting and Crocheting
• Eating ice cream

Inc has an article with some good, small suggestions for "small joys" for 2022.  I already do most of them (not naps on most days, and some days weather isn't conducive to going outside), so I may try to focus a little more on the ones I don't.  Most people who know me understand how difficult the seventh one can be for me.

Resolutions for 2022

Borrowing from last year's list, this is what I plan/hope for the coming year:

• Read (or finish) eight books.  I do read plenty of magazines and shorter stories, this commits me to full books.  I have two still in progress from last year, and hope to finish at least one of them as one of the eight.  These are, by the way, paper books, not e-books, as are all the ones I read last year.  Once I am finished, I usually pass the books along, either directly to another reader, back to the library or person who lent it to me, or to a secondhand shop or library sale shelf for somebody else to find and enjoy.
• Complete the two UFOs remaining from 2021.  This is where they are as of this morning:

• Complete at least two other UFOs.  One of them will be either of these, so I can wear it at DFW Fiber Fest 2022 in September:

Top of Fiberlady "Swirl" in "Oh, Happy Day",
a special colourway created for DFW Fiber Fest.
Yoke is finished and now it's just a foot-and-a-quarter of body.
I think I need to reknit the sleeve edges on smaller needles.

This is the "We Knit In Texas, Y'All" cowl, converted to
a vest.  I bought two of the kits and am struggling with
the neckline and armhole borders.  Then it's weave in ends.

• Finish the pullover I started for myself, and make a cardigan for myself.
• Make another cheese soufflé.  I probably have to do this at my parents' home.

Resolutions are not big in my religion, and I've heard of people talk of "setting an intention" for the year ahead.  A knitting adventure I should be following (but haven't, because I tend to wait for all the clues and then create the thing, plus I was working on other projects) suggested these to start your thoughts:

I will start my days with _____________.

I will approach life with _____________.

When things get overwhelming, I will _____________.

I may finish the last one with "eat some ice-cream" or "take a walk".

Speaking of walks, if I want to start this year with another thing I would like to keep doing, I should go out for one of those.  It's rainy but not cold at all; the current temperature is 47°F.

We made it.

Not all of us did - so many people dead from COVID variants, or traffic crashes (and vehicles running into or over pedestrians and bicyclists and otherwise) or other illnesses or old age.  But if you are reading these words you are one of the ones who made it, and I salute you.

Once again I am celebrating alone, and at a timezone of my choosing.  I was up late last night finishing a project, which was not either of the remaining UFOs, which will carry into 2022 unless I finish a mitten tonight.  It's not likely.  If I hadn't been able to visit family over the Christmas week, I might have gotten more knitting and such done, but I did and that was important.  I hadn't seen some of them since Christmas of 2019, except for a couple of zoom calls, and it was good to be together.

I made a cheese soufflé for my parents and they loved it.  I now have to make one every time I visit.

Final Resolution Update 

Checking my list from the beginning of this year:

• One of three specific UFOs done, but progress made on the other two.
• Fourteen books read or finished.
• I decided that instead of the cardigan, I would make a pullover with the same yoke design from the yarn I'd planned for the cardigan.  I might make the cardigan of different yarn some time in the future.  I have not finished the pullover, but I finished the yoke and am on the body.
• I made another cheese soufflé, and it was delicious.

So not 100%, and I am OK with it.  I had goals, and I made some of them, and I did other things.  I kept track of the things I made this year, and if you could pairs of mittens or socks as a single thing, as of right now I have finished sixty-six items.  That includes a pair of mittens that I knit, then partially unraveled and reworked into two other pairs.  It does not include frogging a couple items and starting over.  Most of the items went to charity; the last box of the year went out shortly before my local post office closed today.  I have others waiting their opportunity, as I try to send a full box.

Maybe one of next year's resolutions will be to knit less for others and more for me.  Find out tomorrow.

And In Addition

An unofficial resolution, because I didn't announce it, was to have at least one week where I hit all the milestones on my tracker:  steps per hour, steps per day, minimum of 8K, daily meditation, etc.  I wasn't sure I could do it, but I did it once, and came close other weeks.

Another was to Get Rid Of Stuff, and I totaled how many items I'd have to get rid of if I played The Minimalism Game every month.  I thought it would be easier to restart each month than try to play it straight through for a year, as I doubted I'd have 365 items at the end of it.  If you played every month starting with one item on the first day, the total is 5,738 items gone by the end of the year.  I didn't count getting rid of things that I originally received when a local makerspace closed, or individual alligator clips or pens and such especially when I donated them to other organizations.  I probably would have made it if I counted those individually instead of "box of".  My official total of items gone is 3,639 which is both surprising and not a bad total.  It includes the items I made for charity, but not the individual balls of yarn I used to make those items.

I completed a number of 5K virtual runs (usually walking), a few of which provided medals and other swag.  I usually did them to contribute to a cause I support, or a friend supports, or to raise awareness of a charity.  A friend of mine does them for the medals, and when I heard her mention this one I knew I had to participate:

As you can see from my bib numbers, the Wonder Woman option was by far the most popular.  In fact, my friend said she did just that one.  Being a lifelong DC fan, I couldn't resist doing the set, so received the bonus medal.  The date on the bibs is the start date, and we had until yearend to complete them.  I decided to do the 10K, as I've been known to walk 11-12K on a weekend, but decided that if I counted two 5K walks as the required 10K, it's just between me and my conscience.

Midmonth - UFO Completed

The Omega Shawl is complete!  I didn't do the lace at the bottom - I tried it and really didn't like it.  So the bottom is just three ridges of garter stitch, to blend with the borders.  It's light and large and two inches longer (because I did extra of the stockinette part) than the pattern indicated, so I think it's just fine and I have a UFO converted to a FO.

I decided to celebrate by trying a new pattern:  Fae Elf Mitts.  I used oddments of wool yarns:

 

Since they are very long on me, and I am not a fingerless mitts kind of person, and I did these just for fun, I asked if anybody in my circle wanted them.  A fellow knitter, somebody I met in the group I joined when I first moved to Connecticut, spoke up first.  I dropped them by her house this afternoon, and she's quite happy with them.

Last night I did a flurry of holiday baking and this afternoon a round of deliveries, all surprises, to friends in the area.  I made Caramel Latte Muffins and Apple Cider Muffins (subbing fizzy cider for the beer), both from Pampered Chef mixes that I purchased during a friend's online party.  I don't need more gadgets and things, and figured the mixes would work well as food gifts and potluck contributions.  I also made Peanut Butter Wreaths (think peanut blossom cookies but rolled in red, white, and green mixed sugars, and with a white chocolate disc in the middle instead of a kiss) and Grinch Cookies which are just tinted sugar cookies (I made mine from scratch because I don't have cake mix on hand) with a red heart on top.  I forgot to take pictures but one of the giftees posted one with her thanks:

Apparently some sampling occurred pre-photo.

I've also done some reading.  I've gotten into the habit that after Thanksgiving I shift to some light holiday fare, and it was the same this year, so they were all quick, inconsequential reads.  I did a few more chapters of The Agony and the Ecstasy before setting it aside for seasonal tales, and then I found Tuesdays with Morrie which had fallen behind the laundry sorter that's on the other side of my headboard.  I am almost done with it and decided to save the last bit to finish on Tuesday, so it's packed for my trip.  My parents lent it to me so I'll return it as soon as I read the last chapters.

Mid-Month Resolutions Report

As noted, one UFO finished!  The other two are packed to go with me to visit family over the next couple of weeks.  Hopefully one, if not both, will be done before I return.

The cardigan is now a pullover, and I am on Round 25 of 26 of the yoke.  I probably won't pack it for the trip, due to size (and to focus on the UFOs) but I should be on the stockinette before I leave and that will go quickly once I return.

That will just leave the cheese soufflé to make, and my parents sounded interested, so I might make it for them.

The final month of the year

I know that I should do a review of last month (this post was started on December 2nd, not the first as I try to do with the beginning-of-month posts) and have new resolutions for December, but I really cannot think of anything other than "more of the same".

I forgot to take a photograph of my grandmother's shawl before mailing it as part of her Channukah gifts package, so I don't have that to show.

It's a good thought.

I've been doing my usual posting of Hanukah songs on social media, so maybe once the holiday is finished I'll add the list here.

Resolutions Report

I've decided that since I really don't like the border on the Omega Shawl, I'm going to pull it out and simply do some garter stitch and call it done.  It's long enough, since I'm short, and the yarn is at a black band which I think will be good for the bottom.  Otherwise I'll have to go through the shades and I'm not that interested in hundreds of stitches in stockinette, over and over.  Therefore this UFO should become a FO before the end of the year.

My one resolution to the KnitTalk group was to do the Falling Leaves Cardigan by end of year.  I've had the yarn for a while, I found some great buttons in my stash, now time to cast on.  Of course, I keep getting distracted by other things.   Thirty days and counting down....

Gratitude Part 2

 

Day 16: Thankful to have a warm jacket so I can get an early morning walk when it's 36°F (2°C). Beautifully sunny, though.

Day 17: Thankful to be able to spend the evening listening to At Home... mid-November, a virtual concert by musician Robert C Fullerton "with" my grandmother.  We use technology - I call her, then turn up all the volume controls on my computer so she can hear.

Day 18: Thankful for telehealth, which makes looking after my uncle so much easier.

Day 19: Thankful for the guidance and vision of The Gettysburg Address, which President Abraham Lincoln delivered as he dedicated a national cemetery at the site of the Civil War battlefield of that name in Pennsylvania 158 years ago today.

Day 21: Thankful for live (and virtual) theatre that challenges me to think and presents me with different perspectives.

Day 22: Thankful for colleagues willing to jump into the fray and who work hours just as crazy as mine.

Day 23: As always on November 23rd, I am thankful for my baby brother. He came out all right.

Day 24: Thankful that today I was able to utilize the Early Dismissal at work, and that I got in a bit of a walk on a brilliantly blue-sky (albeit chilly) fall day. Usually it's well after dark when I am done with work. I am also thankful that I have a job I (mostly) enjoy, at a company that appreciates me, and a really good boss - and I know how rare the last item can be.

Day 25: Thankful to all the farmers who work so I can eat. And for the people who drive and pack the food that I don't pick up at a local farmstand, and the ones who do the cooked foods (jams, pickles, cheese, ice-cream, etc.) that I pick up in addition to the vegetables and fruit and eggs. And also for the animals who make edible things or turn into edible things.

Day 26: Glad to have a day off from work, and able to actually take it off from work.

Day 27: Glad to be able to do so many things from home - yoga class, Torah study, and a hangout with people from all over the world "in" an artist's Parisian flat - then make some charitable donations and play Cooky Monster for some friends. Yes, I didn't support Small Business Saturday except with some online orders, and I am OK with that.

Day 28: On the First Night of Hannukah, thankful that I live in a country that permits people to follow their own belief systems and worship as they choose, at least officially.

Day 29: Thankful for autonomy and the ability to make decisions for myself. Also thankful that I am able to help those who cannot.

Day 30: It's #GivingTuesday2021 so I am thankful that I can support nonprofit organizations which do so much to help the world, help people, and spread joy. I am also appreciative of the persons I know who work at nonprofit organizations and sit on their boards and otherwise support nonprofits and their missions.

I am also thankful today for modern medicine and surgery, as my ophthalmologist reminded me that it was nine years and two days ago that he removed my second cataract.  We get them young in my family, so we get them removed at a younger-than-people-expect age.  I'm still awed by how well I see now.  And I received the lovely edict "see you in a year" at the end of the exam.

The first fifteen

Many people I know post Things For Which I Am Thankful in November, because of the USA Thanksgiving on the fourth Thursday.  I started doing it, and while some people follow a pattern, at least for the first few days, mine tend to be more random:

Day 1: I am very thankful for my family, and that they keep me.

Day 2: I am thankful that I am able to VOTE!!!

Day 3: Glad that I have gas heat and cooking, when the electricity for my neighborhood suddenly went out this morning. Also that the utility company had things repaired in a couple of hours.

Day 4: Given that our world is mostly virtual these days, I am thankful that I can attend a gala even though work is eating my evening.

Day 5: Thankful that I can ignore the "Black Friday Starts NOW" ads filling my inbox.

Day 6: Glad for a beautiful fall day when I could be outside for a bit. (No photos - I was enjoying, not recording.)

Day 7: Thankful for my online knitting/crocheting/fiberarts community.

Day 8: I am thankful/glad to have a very good and supportive boss.

Day 9: Thankful to have enough of a break for a walk outside - two days in a row!

Day 10: Thankful for the telephone, which allows me to speak to my grandmother and keep up with her even if visiting is still problematic.

Day 11: Thankful to all whom I know, and those I don't, who serve in our country's military. Thank you for your service and your sacrifices. I don't have photos of my relatives who served in their uniforms, but I have a couple letters from WWII.

Day 12: On a stormy morning, thankful to have a solid house with a solid roof.

Day 13: Thankful for technology that allows me to attend the Knitting History Forum Conference 2021: HEADS, HANDS & FEET, then spend an hour in Paris watching an artist work, then sneak in a walk before viewing a film for tomorrow's class on Neo-Noir, which is taught by an Australian living in Scotland.

Day 14: Thankful that my Russian ancestors were able and willing to flee the pogroms in the 19th Century and settle in America.  (Yes, I had ancestors from other places that fled for similar reasons, or other ones, but I attended a program on "Jews of Russia" today.)

Day 15: Thankful that Blue Earth Compost picks up a bucket of kitchen scraps every other Monday and turns them into useful compost for the community.

Mid-Month Resolutions Report

I haven't made progress on finishing UFOs or books.  I'm back to The Agony and The Ecstacy, which is very long and detailed.  So I am reading a lot, but there is a lot left to read.  I did make a shawl for my grandmother for Channukah, and will get a photo before I mail it to her this weekend.  It went quickly, in three days, due to simple pattern, thick yarn, and large hook.  I've also made things for charity, of course - I feel as though I need to fill the box, then once it's mailed I can turn to other things.

Including some more mittens for myself, to wear while I take my walks outside.  It's getting cold, especially in the mornings.  I found my favourite pair but one has a hole that needs darning.  😟