What a year! I’m not going to reminisce on yet another year spent in WFH and watching idiots around the country protest things that are designed to keep them safe. And honestly, I’m debating on if I’m going to do my usual Year-End recap (it’s a lot of work!).
I had big intentions of finishing 5 more books than I actually finished and getting them posted before 12/31, but when work gave us an extra week off (even though I had to work for a chunk of it) my schedule and plans got tossed out the window.
It also didn’t help we went and visited my family for almost a week in NC. It was great to see everyone, but it was EXHAUSTING, even more so than usual! I think a lot of it had to do with seeing everyone in such a short period and having not had to interact with that many people in almost two years and being hot on the tails of Thanksgiving and Tim’s family.
Books and Bookish Things
The big success of the month was finally finishing Joyce’s A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man and crossing Joyce off my list forever. I adored If This Gets Out and smashed the MM Romances (8 of the 10 with 4 being galleys).
- A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man – James Joyce
- A Handful of Joy – Pat Henshaw*
- If This Gets Out – Sophie Gonzales and Cale Dietrich*
- A Dashwood of Sense and Sensibility (Love, Austen #6) – Anyta Sunday*
- Dances Long Forgotten (Winsford Green #1) – Ruby Moone
- Playing at Home (Sporting Secrets #2) – Jax Calder*
- Christmas Wish List (Hartbridge Christmas #2) – N.R. Walker
- Spiced Kisses (Kiss Me #3) – Charlie Novak
- His Perfect Christmas Gift – Ali Ryecart
- People Like Us (Winsford Green #2) – Ruby Moone
I did go a little overboard with galleys for early 2022 and I haven’t even heard back about the other three I requested and haven’t heard back about 😀
- A Christmas Miracle (Winsford Green #4) – Ruby Moone*
- Dessert Can Save the World – Christina Tosi*
- Black Cake – Charmaine Wilkerson*
I also picked up quite a few Kindle Unlimited books and got four knitting books and a copy of Pride and Prejudice that has Martha Stewart baking recipes mixed into it and I’m VERY excited to start reading it and trying to make the corresponding recipes.
On social media, I came across these two which both gave me a good chuckle.
TILDA SWINTON AS LIBRARIES: a thread
Tilda Swinton as Texas Southern University's Library Learning Center pic.twitter.com/jqSzvnOJ0W
— Jude Atwood (@JudeAtwood) December 7, 2021
Craft Corner (all links Ravelry)
I spent SO much of December trying to get a bunch of presents knit before Christmas and I was 80% successful. I got four Musselburgh hats done for my cousins and aunt and uncle (all reversible! Glimpses in the two photos below.) and then I got about 50% done with a Java Summer Scarf for my aunt and 50% done with a Cozy basket-weave textured blanket for a friend.
AND I started an Insta dedicated to my knitting: @losing.my.knit—we’ll see how long that lasts. I also bought a Schitt’s Creek Project Bag from Knit for a Queen on Etsy for an early birthday present to myself. And I. Am. OBSESSED.
We met her at the New England Fiber Festival and I got a Star Wars sugar skull one and after stalking her on Insta I’d seen she’d done a Schitt’s Creek bag and she kindly let me know when she was posting the new ones. She posted at 6:05 pm and I’d bought it by 6:10 pm (if even that big of a gap). I LOVE IT so much.
What’s Next?
I’m still trailing quite a few MM Holiday Romances so you’ll see those over the next few weeks. I’m also hoping to make a better dent on my physical bookshelf and nonfiction goals. We’ll see if either of those come through or if I get any reading done at all because there are still SO many things I want to knit like the Echo Point Shawl, the Brette Scarf, a couple of Sockhead Slouch Hats, the Exasperation Hat (hilarious NSFW-ish), and the Ranger Cowl. Some are gifts and some are straight up just for me 😀