2022 - End of year wrap up and reflections

Previous years here: 2021, 2020, 2019, 2018, 2017, 2016

That was quite a year! I started powerlifting and competed twice. My boss died and I've been doing her job. I lost a cat and gained a cat. We went on an epic multi-day hike and loved it. And throughout it all, I read and knitted.

At the end of last year I said I wanted to read more sci-fi and fantasy, and I feel like I did that. This year I joined Kindle Unlimited and got quite a lot of value from it. Other than that, it was the usual mix of fiction, a little bit of non-fiction, romance and some review books, although my reviewing seems to have slowed to a trickle.

In knitting I completed 50 projects, for a total of 20,386 meters. I went to three year festivals and had a very good time with my knitting friends. I also, finally learnt to crotchet properly and had a lot of fun (especially when I had Covid) making squares. Maybe in 2023 I'll put the squares together into a blanket.

This year I discovered Aussies knitting for War Affected Kids (AWWAK) an organisation that sends packages to kids in Syrian refugee camps. I knit 15 things for them. I have an informal goal to knit at least 12 charity items each year.

I kept the sock knitting under control, with 7 pairs, three of which were given away as gifts. next year I am planning 6 pairs of two colour slip stitch socks, as well as refreshing my sneaker liners.

The stash is a little large, sitting at 25,669 meters over 34 entries. I'm not quite sure how it got that high, I haven't been stress shopping. i guess the yarn festivals, and Dani keeps dying amazing yarn, which I've been buying in doubles. I love pretty much all of it, and my oldest yarn is from March 2021, so nothing has been sitting around too long. That number includes two and a half kilometers of left over sock yarn (LOSY) which I plan to reduce by knitting for charity.

Wishing you joy and peace in your crafting and non-crafting endeavours.

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Linky Wednesday - the one with the pause

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Unravelled Wednesday - the one where it's ordinary

This week I finished my first book for the 2025 When Are You Reading? Challenge , which was The Silence of the Girls by Pat Barker , which covered the pre 1200 time period. I loved it, it's a retelling of the siege of Troy from a feminist perspective. I haven't worked out what I'm reading for the 1200-1399 time period. Suggestions are welcome. I'm currently reading Central Station by Lavie Tidhar , which is science fiction set in a future Tel-Aviv. It's good, but there are loads of characters and I'm not overly invested. Although at least I'm having no problems telling the characters apart, they are very district. I just don't overly care what happens to them. I'm listening to a NetGalley review copy of Mona Acts Out by Mischa Berlinski , which is the story of a woman unravelling. It's very different from Mischa's other books, but quite compelling. I'm not sure what's next, probably something from Kobo-Plus, perhaps Regrets...

What I made, by Sharon

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