“Start as you mean to go on.”
I don’t know about you, but I enjoy starting out the New Year with a fresh slate. This means that in the next month I’m reviewing everything I have going on and trying to figure out how I can finish as much in December as possible. On my list to be conquered:
Books:
I don’t know how I have so many books in progress. This year I set my Goodreads goal for 50 total books read, which is something I’ve been able to do easily in the past. Somehow I seem to have started a ton of books and left them unfinished. Sometimes it was because they were dense, sometimes my loan ran out before I finished, sometimes I started it and wanted to come back to it later. Regardless, I have 5 books left to read to meet my goal, and 7 books on my “currently reading” list. They are (in no particular order) –
- The Secret of Nightingale Palace by Dana Sachs
- Allow me to Retort: A Black Guy’s Guide to the Constitution by Elie Mystal
- The 99% Invisible City: A Field Guide to the Hidden World of Design by Roman Mars
- The Golden Thread: How Fabric Changed History by Kassia St. Clair
- Madam C.J. Walker’s Gospel of Giving: Black Women’s Philanthropy during Jim Crow by Tyrone McKinley Freeman
- The 1619 Project: A New Origin Story by Nikole Hannah-Johns
- The Great Circle by Maggie Shipstead
Knitting:
For many years I was pretty good about finishing everything I started in knitting. As I’ve taken on more sample work, and it has become more of my job, I find myself shelving lots of my own projects to make way for more urgent ones. But half-finished projects clutter up my crafting space, mean that I can’t find needles and other tools when I want them (because they’re in bags somewhere) and generally give me things hanging over my head. So I have three projects I’d like to focus on.
- Painting Honeycombs by Stephen West, yarn by Zen Yarn Garden – this was a knit-along that I helped lead during the year and didn’t get to finish. I’m about half done, and the blanket is only throw sized, so I should be able to finish with a week or two of dedicated work.
- Oyster by Quail Studio, yarn by Rowan – when Rowan’s spring collection came out I was taken with this cotton cardigan. I thought it was super cute and hoped to wear it all summer long. I’ve finished the back, and started one of the fronts, so I bet I could knock it out with a few weeks of work. Of course I won’t wear it until spring….
- Choose Your Adventure Gnome by Sarah Schira, in my handspun – earlier this year I couldn’t resist signing up for a gnome along. This time rather than being a cute little handheld gnome toy, I chose the large option and I’m creating a gnome that will be 3ish feet tall (see hand for scale?). I’ve ordered the stuffing and everything, but I stalled after finishing the pointy gnome hat. This one should be easy to finish – just a few nights of work and it would be such a fun podcast co-host!
Do you have anything you’d like to finish out this year so you can start with a clean slate in 2023?
Ooh, yes yes yes, thank you for the inspiration! I’m good in the book department, but I have a gigantic stockinette (read deeply dull) sweater I have to finish. Goal set! XO
Unfinished books, unfinished knitting project and hidden knitting needles-I identifying with those and more.
I will have books I will likely carry over into the new year. By now, given I am always reading more than one thing, I’ve made peace with starting the year with books in progress. What I do have to do is finish posting reviews of books I have finished. My GR still shows 6 books I am currently reading, but I finished four of them. I just need to post the reviews on the blog so I can mark them as “read.”
By the way, I read Allow Me To Retort, which I really liked. Hope you like it too.
Best, and keep on blogging.
I had The 99% Invisible City sitting half-read for over a year, then I just powered through it to make it my 100th book on Goodreads. Once I got going, it went pretty fast.
The 1619 Project. That alone tells you all you need to know about Laura Cameron. Fact-based knowledge is not a part of this person’s world view. Steer clear.
Sounds like someone is triggered.
@Michael said: “Sounds like someone is triggered”
You bet I am – and you should be too! The 1619 Project is toxic propaganda. As a clear thinking classically educated adult the 1619 Project does not affect me, but it poisons the thinking of many who are young and vulnerable, and young adults who have already been indoctrinated to hate America in today’s Government-controlled taxpayer-funded education system.
I have so many quilting projects I have started that I want to finish. I have two quilts that need to be quilted (I do that by hand or on my sewing machine). I have one quilt I need to finish. And I started a Christmas wall hanging quilt that I would like to get done by Christmas!
Finishing up books is usually no problem. I’m reading The Sentence by Louise Erdrich and I love it.