We have finally arrived at the last Wednesday of the longest year ever. No updates with this post, but rather reviews… The best of 2020 in making and reading.
This was the Year of Making (although not all of it has been captured on Ravelry, thanks to them being tone deaf about people having issues with their site) However, I checked and on Ravelry, I had completed 12 things (no Rav Links) this year, starting with a sweater that is a true favorite… Amy Christoffer’s Felix Cardigan. I wear it often… and have the yarn to make another one. Perhaps it can be a “start out 2021” sweater!
However, it was a year of socks for me… I knit more socks than I ever have in my knitting life with a whopping 6 pairs of adult size socks (and one Winston size pair, but those barely count, lol) And in fact, the final project I completed in 2020 were a pair of Socks for Steve. As you can see above, I don’t think I will get sock 2 completed before the midnight tomorrow so that brings my grand total for things knit this year was a whopping 22 projects! I guess Pandemic Knitting should be a thing!
On the sewing front, I was a lot less productive… only 4 projects completed this year. Sigh. My goal is to do a bit more sewing in 2021.
Now, on to the reading, which was so good this year. Although, I read less books than last year… by a significant amount. However, I think the reading I did this year has included so many books that have stayed with me. Books that I am still thinking about! Those, my friends, are signs of good books!
Of the 107 books I read this year, I classified 39 of them as 5-star reads! There were 45 4-star reads, just 14 3-star reads, 6 2-star, and 1 book got a 1-star rating. There were 3 books this year that were just not for me. I have looked at the 7 books that rated below 3-stars, and in hind sight I should have moved into the “did not finish” category. In essence, how I rate books… 3-stars means I finished it and it was okay. 4-stars, I liked it…lots, but I did not love it. And 5-stars is a book that I love, can’t stop thinking about, and want everyone to read it so I can talk to them about it!
I listened to 50 audiobooks this year. It is a format I love and it makes me happy that listening to a book is an option at my library because 99% of my reading for the year was made possible by my library! 2020 was a year that I wanted to read one book of “new to me” poetry every month. I did slightly better than that with 14 books of poetry!
The poetry was truly moving for me this year and 4 of those 14 books have really stayed with me. I think about them often, they introduced me to a new voice and each introduced a new way to look at things:
I highly recommend any of these books to you, if you have not read them already!
Finally, though I have been debating on the continuance of Unraveled Wednesday, I am happy to share that Unraveled Wednesday’s will continue in 2021 – at least for a while! I am truly thankful for all of you each week… your posts inspire me, increase my reading list, as well as my make list!
As always, if you wrote a post to share, please leave your link below and Happy New Year!
Live with intention. Walk to the edge. Listen Hard. Practice wellness. Play with abandon. Laugh. Choose with no regret. Appreciate your friends. Continue to learn. Do what you love. Live as if this is all there is. — Mary Anne Radmacher
This quote has served me very well this year… today, I am not sure if I picked it, or if it picked me. But these words became so important each day of this year. I almost gave up on this word early on in Pandemic Days, but I am glad that I stuck with it and finally stopped fighting it long enough to truly learn something.
December I purposefully lived with intention every single day. And my days included bits of all of Mary Anne’s advice! I listened. I practiced wellness. I played with abandon (thank you AC for really helping in this category! lol) I laughed… so much. I learned some new things this month and as a result knit the best fitting sock I have ever knit!
Perhaps December is the easiest month to “do what you love” but I really leaned in to the joys of this season. I sang along with all the Christmas songs. I nurtured my inner child and watched The Grinch (both the Boris Karloff and the Jim Carrey versions!)
I savored every phone call… the ones full of laughter, the ones full of uncertainty, and the ones full of frustration and tears… and instead of wishing things were different right now, I practiced living as if this is all there is. And while I have always understood that this is living – it somehow clicked in a different way this month. And I realized that those parts… well they are the parts that walk you to the edge. It is not about living dangerously, but rather living fully. I don’t think I would have even begun to grasp that concept in a “normal year” because I think this was the year for truly learning about being intentional and making it part of my life… an integral part.
But the question I have been thinking about for longer than December is where do I go from here. I started this word journey sort of haphazardly. No thought went into the first couple of words. My first word in 2016 was Gratitude (yet I could find no blog posts at all showing that I even spent any time at all learning anything about gratitude) and then in 2017 I spent the year with Joy. There are a couple of posts about that, but still no thought about why I might pick joy. And so, because I just really did not “get” the impact a word could have, I did not pick a word in 2018. However, as the year moved on something curious began to happen. A word started showing up (or maybe I just started paying attention) there were some inspirational emails that talked about it, and there were so many quotes! So I started 2019 with a new word Focus! It was a glorious year. I learned so much. I grew so much. It was exactly what I needed.
Intentional living came to me much the same way… inspirational emails, passages in books, and my focus led me there. So where will Intentional Living lead me? Two words kept circling round my brain – authenticity and vulnerability. They seemed to be the right next step, but something just felt off about both of them. The more I spent time with those words… pondering them… the more unsettled I became. And in November the big answer came for me. Yes those are simply brilliant words and likely a lovely step from Intentional Living, but I knew that there was some heavy work I had to do before I could get to those words. And that heavy work… well, it’s all about release…
release [ ri-lees ] noun a freeing or releasing from confinement, obligation, pain, emotional strain, etc.
Just the thing I have been avoiding my entire life. I am not sure how much of this journey I want to share here, but my hope is to share the process of realease rather than the things being released. And of all people, Goldie Hawn’s words of wisdom will give me some guidance.
“If we can just let go and trust that things will work out the way they’re supposed to, without trying to control the outcome, then we can begin to enjoy the moment more fully. The joy of the freedom it brings becomes more pleasurable than the experience itself.” ― Goldie Hawn
I hope you will continue follow along on this journey to see where it takes me!
Finally, I would like to thank Honoré for hosting us this year!
When I got the first email about the Winter Solstice Project I thought that I did not need one more thing. But then the second email came, and I began to think more about the idea of a weekly project. The idea grew and felt like this is something I need to do in my week. So once a week – until March 20th – I am going to share some thoughts on hope.
Hope is like the sun, which, as we journey toward it, casts the shadow of our burden behind us. — Samuel Smiles
This week the journey toward the sun began again, each day bring a tiny bit more light. For me this year, has felt like that… each day a bit darker than the day before and I have forgotten what hope looks like. I have forgotten that if I look carefully, there are tiny bits of hope every day… bits I miss because I am focused on the darkness. So Monday I started paying attention and here are some things that gave me hope this week:
A Mourning Dove who reminds me that hope can be a thing with feathers.
A 50 degree day in December.
A rosy sunrise after a long week of grey days.
The notification that a long waited for book is ready for pick up!
The promise of snow on Christmas.
Discovering On Being’s Experience Poetry Dr. Fauci and this wisdom…it really struck a chord with me.
I wish you all a Blessed Christmas. See you back here next week!
The week of selfish knitting has begun and my heart is singing with the joy of it! I have cast on a new sock in a new way of knitting for me…toe up. And so far so good. I am not yet to the heel, but I am in no rush. I am savoring each selfish stitch!
I finished those darling dinosaurs! And I can’t wait to see Winston playing with them! (FaceTime for now, but hopefully I will see him in person before they become passé!)
I also finished some very late (but extremely large) socks. I have enough left over yarn though to make a pair of Han Solo Socks for Winston! (Smart me to knit the heels and toes in a complimentary color!)
The reading this week though… I could have lingered longer with Obama’s book, but it was due back to the library and the waitlist is exceedingly long, so getting back quickly was not an option. Mary asked what speed I listened at… I listened at 1.25 and laughed hilariously at some of the daughter comments about how he speaks slowly. Yes, yes he does!
One house…almost. One piece of land, for sure. What a fascinating story, excellently woven together. The connections, the “wait, what?” moments kept me engaged. The only thing that keeps me from giving this 5-stars is that it needed some editing, I think. It had parts that just dragged a bit, but still, this is a great story. If you like history… read this book. If you like stories about complex families…read this book. I recommend it highly!
This might be the best memoir I have ever listened to. Read by President Obama, he shares incredible detail from his campaign, election, and his first four years. I laughed, I cried, and I was just enthralled listening to Obama. No drama Obama? Perhaps, but boy is this book is full of rich, smart, engaging stories. It made me long for the days of then… badly. I highly recommend the audio version of this book. Hearing Obama read makes this book.
Sometimes, the thing you need most is a new voice talking about a very familiar time. Amy-Jill Levine is that voice, and her thoughts and input are most welcome. She brought new light to my Advent and for that I am deeply appreciative. If you are looking for a new voice, I highly suggest AJ Levine.
Next week, I will be sharing my best books of the year and I might even do a bit of a review of my year of making.
As always – if you wrote a post to share, please leave your link below! And thank you!
I think there must be something wrong with me, Linus. Christmas is coming, but I’m not happy. I don’t feel the way I’m supposed to feel. — Charlie Brown
I don’t know about you, but this is truly the Charlie Browniest Christmas ever because this is definitely the feel in my house this year. Steve has talked about it, my kids are talking about it. And I am sure as heck feeling it.
So what’s a body to do when you don’t feel the way you are supposed to? My “Modus Operandi” is to ignore, avoid, and squelch down all those “not happy feelings” and it works, for awhile anyways. Until that last straw arrives and then… whoosh. The dam is broken and ignoring and avoiding are no longer possible. The dam broke for me last week… and it was okay. I was not swept away. Yes, there were tears – lots of them. Yes, there was some fist shaking anger at all this. But it was okay. And while I would not call my current attitude “happy,” it is close. And better than that, today I am absolutely at peace.
And!!! That light at the end of the tunnel has not diminished at all! I listened to this cheerful little podcast on Sunday and my hope is growing! (and I laughed, which really helps that happy attitude…lots!) I am so thankful for all the brilliant scientists… they have made my hope grow and grow and grow!
Finally, Clara Parkes shared this video earlier this month and I just loved it. It was the perfect thing to put on the television to watch while I knit. And!! Sherman also loves it! But did you know there are a couple dozen videos on the Movie Squirrel YouTube site?? This truly is magic and brings me such joy watching, especially this one, which is perfect for Christmas Week! Sherman and I wish you much joy as you watch!
I will be back on Wednesday, to share a bit of knitting and reading!
Is the rapidly approaching Christmas adding stress to your season? I am progressing nicely on my few Christmas makes, so my stress level is low! On Monday, I had the most curious dream and so in-between laundry, I started going through my scrap fabric bin to see what I might find. Tuesday I sat down at the sewing machine and voilà!
This antique doll cradle has been in my home since before my girls! They used it for years, but for some time now it has just sat collecting dust in my home and it is time that a new generation plays with it! So I made a new bed and a wee pillow, and a linen sheet, because why not! The best part? The tiny quilt! I had made this piece in 1992 and entered it in the Tulip Time Quilt Show were it won second place. It is paper-piecing, and hand quilted and although the red fabrics have bled a bit over the years with washing, I don’t think it detracts too much. It was well used – the girls used it for their dolls and now it will warm Vivi’s!
On my list today is to finish a pair of Little Dino’s for Winston! I have one started, so they are “underway”!!
Sadly, I do not have any reading updates this week, but I am deeply immersed in A Promised Land! It is so good! Although, I am quite sure I’d listen to Obama read me the telephone book! It is fascinating hearing him talk about all the things!
That is all I have for today, as always – if you wrote a post to share, please leave your link below and thank you!
I am wondering this morning just where the weekend went… it was here, but boy, it was over way too fast!
So here we are on Monday, but it is the most auspicious of Monday’s! You see, it’s the first Monday after the second Wednesday… which means the Electoral Collage is meeting today! It seems like it’s been 10 years since Election Day, doesn’t it? Today, Joe Biden will have 306 electoral votes, the other guy will get 232 (you need 270 to win). I have been keeping track of the numbers and thought you all might get a chuckle at these numbers. Since Election Day, the other guy and his band of merry fools have tried and tried and tried again to make something out of nothing. They must like losing because their record?? 1-59. Yep, that is one win (the one win was in PA and a judge said they could move from 10′ to 6′ away from watching canvassing… no I am not kidding. That is the only thing they have in the win column) But how ’bout those losses? (The magic is that they were WINS for the American people!!) Today is one day closer to all these shenanigans being over, but it is a big step.
Now, how about some things to distract you this week!
This week’s night skies should be amazing! First, Jupiter and Saturn are “side by side” – an event that has not happened since 1623. I don’t have a telescope, but I will be out this week with hopes that I will be able to see something. Even if it is only the Geminid meteor shower tonight! (It was too cloudy last night in Pittsburgh, boo!)
Finally, poetry will always be magical to me…I have spent much of this year reading (and listening to) more poetry. I heard this poem by Edna St. Vincent Millay last week and I have not been able to get it out of my head. So I am closing today with it. The name was the first thing I heard and I had no idea at all what Recuerdo meant. I looked it up and it is Spanish for memory or remembrance. This poem is exactly that… may your day have lots of memorable moments. I will see you back here on Wednesday!
No big making this week…BUT!!! That project bag? Well, it has 1/2 of my Gift Knitting done, and the second half has begun. If I persevere, I think I can have this done in 4 or 5 days (especially since I know exactly what to do now!)
AND!! This yarn!!
Oh.my.gosh! Chain ply just never looked so good, really. And it is so evenly plied!! And why this time? Well…I followed Sarah’s suggestions. First I set the take up on my wheel to the “pull the yarn rapidly from your hands” setting. And I just concentrated on making nice long chains…not worrying about how much, if any twist was in the plies. Then… when I had all the yarn chained, I rewound it onto a bobbin and then reset the take up to something less than pull the yarn from my hands, but still some good take up, and then I put the yarn through again, this time paying attention to the twist. And I love it! It is not perfect, but boy… it is so much better than any previous chain ply attempts. Thank you, Sarah for that tip!
What will I make with it? I think I am going to try it with Sarah’s latest cowl. While my skein is not exactly consistent, once it has had a wee soak, I think it will be mostly a worsted weight yarn. I think it might look lovely with a dark solid color yarn… at least that is what I was thinking as I plied it up! Just wish me luck on Brioche and Tuck stitching…
The reading this week was so awesome, really. I could just stop right now for the year and be insanely happy with my reading for the year. But!! I am currently listening President Obama read me A Promised Land and I have the latest Vera book to begin, so I must just keep reading!
I started this book based on a recommendation of a friend…and wow, I am so glad I picked it up! What seems like it will be mundane, is not. At all. The story telling is astounding and the story has depth and layers and so much more. I liked Magda, but I loved Emerence. But the relationship that is formed between these two woman is the best. I had originally given this book a 4-star review, but the fact that it is still making me think almost week after finishing it made me move that review up to 5-stars. I highly recommend!
If reading this book does not make you want to relocate to the House in the Cerulean Sea…it should! What a lovely little story with some incredibly deep analogies for life. I saw the ending coming, but there was so much beauty and joy before the ending that I did not mind at all that I knew exactly how it would end. I very much recommend this book!
A book full of inspiration and so much joy! Page after page, I found myself nodding, taking note, and by the time I finished it… I knew that I needed it permanently in my collection of books.
This advice though… simply perfect:
Let go of the narratives you’ve dragged around for years: you are not who you were as a child, or in year X, or on day Y – at least, not only. You do not have to fit yourself into those old, cramped stories. Be yourself here and now. KEEP MOVING.
And that is all I have for this week. I will be back here Monday and I hope that your week is full of good books and even better making!
As always, if you wrote a post to share today, please leave your link below and thank you!
I enjoyed Bridget’s Virtual Advent Christmas story and I thought, well… I have a sort of similar story to share. And although I do not remember any of this story, I have heard it told and re-told and re-told! Plus..I have the proof that it is true!
I have a cousin, Bill, who is 6 months younger than me. I had looked for a photo of the two of us together, but alas, I could not find one. Instead I found a photo of me when I was about 2-ish (I think!) That is the face of determination, Gentle Readers!
That haircut?? Courtesy of my dear Nana!
This story takes place all the way back in 1961… our (mine and Bill’s) first Christmas. I was almost 1 and Bill was just 6 months old. My mom had gotten him a small teddy bear for Christmas, but she made the fatal error in letting me see the gift before it was wrapped. As the story goes, I was obsessed with the wee bear. I asked about the bear lots…and lots…and lots! Out of sight did not mean out of my mind! So it should have come to no surprise that just as we were all getting ready to sit down to eat, I walked in with the little bear. (Personally, I think the quiet should have been a huge clanging warning bell, amirite?) however, as the story goes, I found the wrapped box under the tree and helped myself.
Then the battle began… my mother wanted me to give it to Bill and I was having none of it. They say there were all kinds of tears and yelling (me crying, my parents yelling…) until my nana weighed in. And in her immortal words, as she loved to retell it… “it’s your own damned fault,” she told my mother. My nana in her wisdom ended the fracas, I had the bear… Bill had the box (?? I honestly don’t know if poor Bill got anything from us that year!) and dinner started with no more arguing! Ha!
That bear though… he was the dearest little friend, and as you can see… he was very well loved. Today, he sits in my living room, a humorous reminder my first Christmas…
It just can’t be December without the Virtual Advent Tour!
November is chill, frosted mornings with a silver sun rising behind the trees, red cardinals at the feeders, and squirrels running scallops along the tops of the gray stone walls. — Jean Hersey
This quote is almost my November… while there are no gray stone walls here, the squirrels run races on the power lines as they hurry to bury another acorn or two!
I really like November. The skies are different, the air smells different, and the sunrises and sunsets have moved to new spots on the horizon. Outside it feels like everything is settling in as it tucks itself in for a well-deserved rest until spring. And this year my November very much felt like that…it had a different look, there were different smells, mornings start quietly, and evenings settle into a comfortable rhythm as we wind down the day.
Hand’s down November 7th was the absolute best part of the month!
Something New —
PA had new voting machines, so I made sure I had the PA Voter Hotline number at the ready! We also had our first dusting of snow, our first hard frost, AND some new spinning!
Best “Oh, Wow” Moment/s —
The glowing patio thanks to the sun and a few leaves remaining on a bush… my picture on the 28th does not do it justice.
What I did well and What I can do better —
I am thinking about the future of these look back posts… several times during the month I reached the end of the day and realized that I did not take any photos that day. I feel this need to “get something” but… is that done well? or Can I do better? I am not sure. Lots to think about, but I will absolutely end the year with one more installment!
That was my November! I hope yours was good as well!
Now… a tiny post script… things are bad right now, Gentle Readers…hospitals workers are over their limit and many have reached their breaking point and there is no reprieve. We have reached the grim milestone that every minute 2 people die from coronavirus and we are not yet seeing the Thanksgiving peak. Honestly, if you can stay home, stay home. Get your groceries delivered… really. Do it, it is a necessary evil right now. We need to do everything we can to help hospitals not be full. Do some holiday decorating, and spend some time appreciating how lovely it all looks by staying AT HOME!
