Hello and welcome to a post where I am going to share some books stats from my reading this year! I did not track too much, but I still think it is fun to take a look at. If you want to see the list of books I read this year, you can find that on my Good Reads Challenge Page. Now I will also say I am taking advantage of the data collected by Goodreads to create this post. In the past I tracked my reading a bit more with a google sheet, but this year I just didn’t for one reasons or another.
I read a total of 9,267 pages
I read 32 books
Shortest book read was 18 pages and it was Willie the Weirdo by Stephen King
Even though I did not track a lot of other things this year like genre, I am glad to have this data to look at. I am really happy that while I did not read nearly as much as I usually do, I rated books, on average pretty well. On top of that it was kind of fun to see the most and least popular book, based upon how many people have also read the book, not its rating. I am not sure if I am going to track on a goole sheet next year or not yet, but I know for sure I can count on Goodreads at least to give me some fun stats to look at during the end of the year.
Hello and welcome to a little post where I share all the things I made over the previous year. I am still working on a few projects that I expect to finish so I am going to add them as well. This year was my first full year of knitting and I have to say, I learned a ton of things. I did cables for the first time and learned how to knit myself a sweater. Which has quickly become one of my favorite things to make. Throughout 2022 I managed to complete a total of 21 projects, plus another 2 I am going to be finishing before the end of the year. Anyway, on to the things I made! Oh, before I forget I am just going to add a picture of my favorite project from each month I completed one, otherwise this post will be way to long, I will also include links to all patterns as well if you want to take a closer look.
Stats
Socks: 9 pairs
Sweaters: 6; 2 short sleeve, 4 long sleeve
Cowls/Scarf: 2, maybe 3 depending on how the next few weeks go.
So, this one I don’t have a picture of or a pattern for. I ended up making a pair of socks that was ribbing from top to bottom and gifted them to a friend of mine.
After the Storm by The Little Wolf Knits (Not Yet Released)
So there are all the things I made over the entirety of 2022, it is kind of amazing to look back at this list and see all the different things I have made and the new things I have tried. I am really excited to see what kind of projects 2023 brings and what else I am going to challenge myself with and grow my skill with these hobbies.
Hello and welcome my perfect free winter day! Today I am going to take some time to share what I would do if I could plan my perfect winter day. This even incudes the weather, which as we know doesn’t always cooperate. As you read this, I hope you are having a wonderful day and even your own perfect day!
Morning
My perfect morning would include waking up without an alarm to see a light dusting of snow on the ground. I don’t enjoy where there is a ton of snow, but just enough to see its beauty without the mess. After waking up to my own natural alarm clock I would start my day with a cup of coffee, an audiobook, and some knitting. I truly love when I can just ease into the day. As I am knitting I am cuddled up on the couch or chair with a big fluffy blanket and a view of the snow covered yard and trees.
Afternoon
Later on in the day, I would have a really wonderful sandwich that someone else made for me with some potato chips. I don’t know about you, but there are two things I always think taste better when someone else makes it. The first being a sandwich and the second being popcorn. I am not sure why this is the case of me, but it is. For the rest of the afternoon I would be happy spending time with my loved ones, continuing to craft, or reading to my hearts content.
Evening
After dinner and the days activities, I would love to end my day sitting on the couch with my significant other in front of the fire place to keep toasty as the temperature outside begins to drop as the sun sets. We will be sipping on warm hot chocolate made on the stove top with some milk and mix. Other than that I am happy to be listing to a podcast together, playing a game, or just watching something on TV together. Then once we finish our hot chocolate it is time to go to bed.
If I had a free day with nothing planned, I would plan a day that was slow, calm, and allowed me to enjoy the environment around me. I enjoy days where it is not chaotic or go, go, go. I like being able to take a breath and truly appreciate the world and those around me. I think this is why my two biggest hobbies reading and knitting allow a bit of meditative quality. Now, I know that everyone enjoys different things and other people may enjoy a bit more adventure in their perfect winter day. As for me, I enjoy taking a breath and relaxing in my own space.
Hello and welcome to my BUJO for the month! This month I went festive for the fall season and really embraced pumpkins. This past week I ended up going to my local box craft store and really fell in love with the art style of this pumpkin craft paper I came across called Pumpkin Patch Paper. I decided to grab a sheet and used it to decorate this time around, which I actually ended up kinda loving so I might do it again next month. We shall see! Anyway, here is what I did for the month of October.
I decided to keep this month’s spreads very simple since chances are I will have a lot going on. December is always a ton of fun, but it can be overwhelming at times. To keep things a bit calm, I figured I would keep things clean and organized. For the monthly calendar I just labeled it December 2022 and gave each day a rectangle on a single page. On the page opposite I decided to add some craft paper that has a blue background and images of blue holly, snow, pine sprigs, and a cut of a berry spring repeated throughout the page. I had used this method to decorate my BUJO the past few months and I have really been loving it.
Monthly Goals & Advent Tracking
Goal Pages, Monthly Notes, and Advent Tracking
On the left hand side I broke the page into two sections. The top is to keep track of my monthly goals I have for myself. These include setting up budgets, connect yarn to projects, read a book, complete 24 days of Blogmas, bake cookies or another sweet, and create goals for 2023. I already completed a few of these, but have quite a few to complete still. Under that I made a space called Monthly Notes, I usually save this spot to write down fun and exciting things that have happened over the month, almost like a memory dump of sorts. It is really fun to look back at.
On the right hand side I reserved to keep track of my advent projects this year. I have three that I am thinking about activitly doing this month, but I am thinking I will be only doing two. The two I know I am doing for sure are the 24-Stripe Socks. This is where you knit a single stripe on the socks per day. These will be my Christmas socks. I picked the 2022 Advent 24-Stripe Yarn by Freckled Whimsy and I plan on using a pattern called Spinifex Socks by Helen Stewart (Ravelry). The second one is a 12 Day Advent from MadlineTosh where you get the choice of 4 patterns and the yarn to complete that project as well as a few other goodies dealing with the yarn arts. I don’t know the patterns yet, so this should be fun to find out on December 1st! The last one that is a long shot is to use my minis and leftovers over the month of December to make the Anthology Throw (Ravelry), also written by Helen Stewart. I have a feeling I wont be doing this one, but just incase I wanted to add it. I plan on coloring in the days I actively work on each project to see how I keep up with these projects.
On both of these pages I ended up using up the leftover craft paper to add some pops of color as well. I thought it would be fun to tie everything together and add make things look a bit cuter. As you can see, I really kept things bare this month, I usually have a habit tracker and some other lists, but like I said December tends to be a little much so I wanted to go easy on myself. But, there you have it, my bujo spreads for the month of December!
Hello and welcome to my little home on the internet! Today I am sharing my BUJO spreads for the month of September. This month I felt a bit more inspired than I usual, so my bujo has a lot more detail than it has in previous months. I am really happy that I felt inspired because it ends up being so fun doodling and felt less like a chore that I needed to complete. Anyway, here is what I did!
Calendar page and September 2022 Dashboard with mushroom doodles.
This months dashboard I ended up making an entire page a calendar and on the other side I doodled a bunch of mushrooms with the heading September 2022. I ended up picking mushrooms because in September where I live I tend to see a ton of them growing.
Habit tracker with mushroom doodle. Weekly Knitting Goals with four sections that look like notebook pages.
The next page I ended up adding a habit tracker, just to see if I would use it honestly. I am going to track taking my vitamins, 10,000 steps, yoga, reading, and making. I ended up continuing with the theme of the month and drew a giant mushroom to take up the rest of the space on the page. Now, the next page I am really proud of. I have my weekly Knitting goals, I honestly should have made it maker goals, but I know that for the future now. I ended up making room for 4 projects to work on and made the trackers look like notebook paper. It came out better than I expected so I am planning on doing it again because I have been enjoying it so much.
Monthly goals and Random Notes Spreads
These last two pages are ones that will get filled out as the month goes on for the most part. The one page is my monthly goals where I would like to read 4 books, I left the titles of the four books blank so I can read whatever I would like. The next two goals are knitting related where I would like to finish my current sweater WIP called Alpenglow and start another shawl called Pressed Flowers. I ended up doodling another mushroom towards the bottom of this page because while I like having goals for the month, I don’t like making goals just to fill up a page. The second page is just a space to keep random notes, it is usually where I write fun things I did or see so I remember it.
Hello and welcome to my blog! I am just taking a moment to write some goals I have for myself this upcoming month. This month I feel like I am already ready to say goodbye to the heat of summer and embrace the light chill in the air of the start of fall later in the month. I don’t know about you, but I am already noticing the days getting shorter. Anyway, with all that in mind here is my intent for the month of September
Reading Plans
This month I would like to finish my two current reads, Maledictions: A Horror Anthology by Cassandra Khaw and I’m Glad My Mom Died by Jennette McCurdy. I mentioned yesterday in my Monthly Digest | August 2022 post that I have really been enjoying both of them for different reasons. I am about 30% into both of them so I feel like I will fly through the rest of both of them.
Crochet and Knitting Plans
Collar and start of zigzag section of the colorwork yolk on needles and balls of yarn attached.
This month I have the goal of completing a sweater called Alpenglow I by Andrea Mowry. I have never made a colorwork sweater, but so far I am really enjoying it! It has been engaging so I don’t think I will have a problem finishing it up.
Random Goals
As for my random goal of the month, I really would like organize my space a bit more. I did a lot of unhauling of books, items, etc. because I had to downsize. While I was able to take some things out of my space, I kind of just shoved things where ever they would fit instead of organizing. So it has been a little difficult finding items and my space just doesn’t seem to be working for me. I feel like it is going to take some time, but I really want try to tackle it. or at least most of it, this month.
Hello and welcome to a monthly recap post that takes a look at my reading, crafting, and random things I did this month. This month was a ton of fun and relaxing at the same time. I was able to spend a lot of time outside enjoying the summer weather, but also enjoyed some time cooling off indoors with a good book. Anyway, here are some of the things I was up to this past month!
Reading
Finished The House Across the Lake by Riley Sager, I read this with my friends Jenna and Reg earlier this month. I was slow to get into it, but once I did it went pretty quickly. I think what made it hard to get into was the fact I was not a huge fan of the main character. To be fair they are a untrustworthy narrator because of their drinking very frequent, so I think this was the authors point. Personally, I am kind of sick of this in thrillers. Apart from that I really enjoyed the lake setting, it really lent itself to the story. I was able to clearly picture the scenes from the pages and felt that each person we met had their own personality. I did really enjoy the use of lore in this story, it was interesting and really engaged me in the story.
I am currently in the middle of Maledictions: A Horror Anthology by Cassandra Khaw and I’m Glad My Mom Died by Jennette McCurdy. I am really enjoying both of them for completely different reasons. Maledictions is a wonderful collection of horror short stories that is great for when I don’t have a ton of time to sit and read. On the other hand I’m Glad My Mom Died is a nonfiction book written by a now grown child actress sharing her story. With this book, I really enjoy being able to dedicate time to reading it.
Crochet, Knitting and Crafting
Textured socks on sock blockers with contrasting heels and toes.
This month I ended up finishing a complete pair of knitted socks! I decided to follow a pattern this time around instead of doing a plain sock, I ended up using Picnic Blanket Socks by Helen Stewart. All her patterns are just wonderfully broken down line by line with stitch counts and % progress shown. They are really great patterns for when you are trying as new technique and want more than just the section ending count. These were a ton of fun to make, the texture was super easy and I can’t wait to wear them this winter.
Gray cropped tank top with bows on the straps
The second item I completed this month is the Georges Top by Johanna Gehrisch. I have some mixed feelings about this pattern. While I was making it I came across some things that I would change if I were to make this again. I would complete the bottom section on the round then pick up stiches to do the shaping. I also had to do ribbing around the bottom so the bottom did not curl, if done again, I would do a folded hem, the only reason I did not this time was because I didn’t know if I would have enough yarn. When finishing this pattern, at the time of making it, there was not a lot of guidance, did not tell me how far up to stich the halves together. I ended up guessing the the section I would do in the round in the future, well turns out I needed to do it higher for this items to sit correctly. Some guidance would have been helpful in that regard. Do I like this item? Yes, I do. Would I make it again. No, idea. I really loved the pattern, but having the lack in support towards the end was a bit of a turn off. If I did make it again I would remove the bows and make it longer as well as the changes I mentioned above.
Life
Kindle on table and dog sitting by feet of the reader
This month I was able to get a new ereader, if you want some more detail you can see my post called; My New eReader. Overall, I am loving using this, I take it everywhere and I really feel like I get more reading done. Yes, even though I only finished one book. Also, because it is not a computer screen I feel a difference in my eyes, they don’t feel as fatigued after a longer reading session.
A milestone I really wanted to celebrate is the fact that August marked one year of knitting. I did a post over on my twitter celebrating it as well. It is so hard to believe I have only been knitting for a month and have created things I never thought I would be able to and have fun challenging myself. Some of the more notable ones include a red textured and cabled shawl called the Saraya shawl, a textured brown shirt called Anker’s Summer Shirt, a gray shawl with eyelet details on the edge called the Kari Shawl and lastly some socks I am very proud of with contrasting heels and toes that I made from memory based on a vanilla sock pattern.
Rock beach next to the woods and water
One of the most relaxing things I did this month was taking walks outside and just enjoying nature. While there were some VERY hot days, it was great to just get out and walk on the days it wasn’t too bad or in the morning or evening. I took the above picture on one of my walks.
Hello and welcome to a midmonth check-in! This month has truly flown by, I feel like the year always speeds up the further along we are. While I have finished a few projects and finished a few more books, I am just going to take a moment to share what I am currently reading and working on. But, don’t worry, in my monthly digest post I will share all my reads and projects! Anyway, here is what I am currently focusing on.
My Current Reads
Maledictions: A Horror Anthology by Cassandra Khaw (Contributor), this is an anthology in a very expansive universe called Warhammer 40k. I have never read anything from this universe before, honestly I was very overwhelmed because this science fiction is honestly a phenomenon in my eyes. There is just SO MUCH. But, I finally decided to see if there was some horror within and lo and behold there is some horror, a lot actually. So, I picked it up. I am about 30% in this collection of short stories and honestly I think it is a great introduction to this very large universe that is so rich with lore and history. It gives small peaks into that, so I feel like I am only dipping my toe in before really jumping in. The writing is honestly just wonderful. All of the stories I have read so far have been done so well, I have been utterly freaked out, which is perfect since it is horror. While this is me just dipping in my toes for now, not knowing everything or much about Warhammer 40k I feel like these stories explain what is needed and I think is a good foundation/starting point, even though it is not a traditional starting point. I am really excited to continue to read this.
My Current WIPs
Cuff and part of a leg of a sock on flexiflips with a shark progress keeper
The first project I am working on is a pair of socks, this time I am following a pattern called Picnic Blanket Socks (ravelry) by Helen Stewart. It has been a fun and easy knit so far and this yarn has been a dream to work with, nice and squishy. I am looking forward to wearing them when the weather gets a bit chillier.
Collar and short row shaping on a started sweater with fluffy mohair, wool in 2 colors, and 2 skeins of multicolored yarn
The second project I am currently working on is a bit more of an undertaking and I feel like I am going to be working on for a bit. It is the Alpenglow I (ravelry\non-ravelry) sweater pattern by Andrea Mowry. It will be my first time doing color work, I am both excited and scared out of my mind. I have completed just up to the start of the color work. I decided to put it aside until I do a bit more research on color dominance and then picking it back up to continue. I feel like I will have done that by the time this goes live.
Hello and welcome to a little showcase of what I did with my bujo for the month of August. I have been pretty lax with keeping up with this in recent months mainly because I was not carrying it around so much. I was putting everything on my phone and organizing my life digitally, nothing wrong with that, but not my preferred. I like textile feedback and I remember more if I write it down so I really wanted to get back to this. Anyway, here are the spreads I have done for the month of August and one for the Summer season.
Calendar page and dashboard page with name of month and picture of the beach,
I decided to keep it super simple with the dashboard page, I just added the month and year. Then I decided to dress it up a bit by adding a picture of the water hitting a rocky shore and boats in the distance. As for the calendar, I kept it simple I made a rectangle for each day and labeled the days of the week. If you like the picture I used you can find it here.
Picture of BUJO spreads; august notes and jots, my august goals, weekly knitting goals.
For August I decided to add a place to add notes about things I did or need to do. This “August Notes and Jots” page is almost like a brain dump and memory keeper combined. On the other page I placed two things related to goals I have for myself this month. The top section of this page is for general goals I have for the month of August. The bottom half is specifically for keeping up with my current WIPS or future WIPS I plan to start this month. I labeled each of the weeks in August and made a column for each project I plan on working on, but also left two blank incase I change my mind. I am not someone who can work on one project, but I want to make sure that if I have more than one or two on the go, I am actually making progress on them. I do plan on working on my Miss May Shawl, Picnic Basket Socks, and Pressed Flowers Shawl, but we shall see what I am in the mood for.
Summer 2022 Project Plans
This last spread is just a printout of an infographic I made on canva of the projects I want to complete this Summer. When I do complete one I add the date it was completed. I have done this for the past three seasons and love it, but I will say if I don’t work on one or finish one it is not a big deal either. It is just a nice visual reminder. I want to work on Miss May Shawl, Pressed Flowers Shawl, Anker’s Summer Shirt (already done), Morning Rituals Sweater and Heel Toe Do Si Do socks.
So, there are the spreads I am using this month to organize myself and keep me focused on my goals. I hope you have a wonderful month ahead of you!
I don’t have any specific books I plan on reading in August, but I do want to read 4 books in total. If I did have to choose two I most likely end up reading, I think it would have to be to finish The House Across the Lake by Riley Sager, I started read it halfway through July and I have been taking my time since I am reading it with Reg and Jenna. The second one I would have to say has a high chance of being read in August is Things We Lost in the Fire by Mariana Enríquez, I read another work by this author and absolutely loved it so I am really looking forward to picking this one up.
Crochet and Knitting Plans
As for knitting plans I really want to start working on either Morning Rituals by Andrea Mowry/(Ralvery/Makers Website) or Soldotna Cropby Caitlin Hunter (Ralvery/LoveCrafts). Both are sweater patterns, but the first would be starting the transition to fall/sweaters with beautiful cables and the Soldotna is a short sleeve colorwork crop top. Both are beautiful. I am tempted to make one more Summer top before the weather changes, but to be fair I wont have a ton of time in the month of August to knit. Decisions, Decisions.
Random Goals
For the month of August I don’t have too many goals, I am really going to do my best to relax a bit since I will have some time to myself. I really want to go on another nature walk like I did in July, it was just a really fun adventure. I also want to go to the beach as least once if not more to relax near the waves and do some reading. Like I said, I just want to relax as much as possible.
Classic Bhaer 