Monthly Digest and Wrap Up | February 2024

Hello and welcome to a wrap up of the shortest month of the year, but with a bonus day thanks to leap year! I had high hope for this month and honestly, I got a lot done with all the stuff life threw at me this month. I will say, I am happy to announce I read another book this month! I am honestly really thrilled with this because I would rather read a book or two a month consistently than not read at all like I did pretty much all year. I also was able to get some projects off my needles, which I am excited to use now.

Books

This month I ended up only finishing one book, but it was a beautiful read. I ended up finishing Before Your Memory Fades by Toshikazu Kawaguchi, which is the 3rd book in the series. The series is heart breaking, but beautifully written and just one I cannot get enough of. The bonus is, these books are usually around 200 pages or so and fly by. Even within those few pages a world is built easily and you feel like you fall into the pages of of the books. This most recent read from this series was the exact same way. I am hoping to read the next book in the series very soon. I have to be honest, this is probably the only series I have been keeping up with since reading has gone into a full slump over a year ago. That says a lot about this series in my eyes. It is hard to really summarize this series, it is slice of life where you follow the on goings in a café in Japan. It is not just a regular café, but has a magical realism twist where you can travel through time when insider its walls, but there are rules you must follow. The stories of those who work there and those who are patrons are always well developed and intriguing and at times exacting and totally heart breaking.

Finished Projects

I finished my Christmas Eve cast on the Teddy Clutch! (Website | Ravelry) It is a large clutch that is made using yarn like a teddy bear, so it is super soft and cute. I am excited to finally be able to use it out and about. If you plan on using the recommended yarn for the pattern, I will warn you, if you drop a stitch is is nearly impossible to find it. Thankfully in my opinion it is worth it, but if I made it again I might try a different type of yarn of the same weight for a different look. The instructions were well written and easy to follow, which was wonderful! I really feel like this is a great project for adventurous beginners.

The second item I got off my needles was a really quick little scrappy project, which was called the Mini Crop Puff (Ralvery). It is a tiny little sweater and I was testing out the pattern to see if I wanted to make ornaments for next Christmas with my scrap yarn. It was a really cute and I liked the project for sure. I am not sure if I am going to use it though, the main reason being is I think they are a tad bit too big for our tiny baby tree. I might make them for friends and family though and embroider the initial of their last name. Yes, I am already planning projects! I don’t want to be really behind like previous years.

Adventures

Honestly, this month has been one of a roller coaster let me tell you what. There were some really scary things that happened, but I also had some really awesome things happen as well. I don’t want to get into to much detail about everything, but one really great thing I would like to share is I got engaged this month and I am really, really excited. It is going to be weird introducing him as my fiancé now.

Monthly Stats