Plans for 2021

Today is my last day of vacation. Technically my break from work would be over today, but as Rainbow doesn't start school again until tomorrow (the teachers have an in-service day today), I decided to add one more day on and spend it with her. I still set my alarm for the regular time this morning, though, so that tomorrow won't be too much of a shock -- although, to be honest, working from home does make it much easier to face waking up early!

I know that Mondays aren't usually a blogging day for me, but with it being the start of a new year, I have a lot to talk about and didn't want to write short novels in my usual posts, so I thought that for this week, I'd spread it out a bit.

Today I want to talk about my plans for this year. I really enjoyed having my 20 in 2020 lists, even though I only finished one of them, so I thought I'd continue that a bit into 2021. Instead of listing specific yarns I want to use, patterns I want to knit, and fiber I want to spin, though, I've come up with a list of 21 experiences I want to have throughout the year. Some are craft related, some have to do with reading, and some are physical activities, but all of them are things that are achievable (one, in fact, has already been achieved). I'll be returning to this list every month in addition to reviewing how my One Little Word for the year has been playing a role in my life (and I'll be revealing my word tomorrow). So without further ado, here's the list!

21 Things I Want to Do in 2021:
1. Bake challah for Shabbat
2. Run a 5K straight (i.e., without stopping to walk)
3. Learn a new knitting technique
4. Sew a project bag
5. Knit a sweater out of handspun
6. Spin for a sweater
7. Read a book outside my comfort zone
8. Try making pastry
9. Knit or crochet a toy
10. Design a crochet pattern
11. Read a biography/autobiography
12. Spin the oldest fiber in my stash
13. Knit five items for charity
14. Finish my WIPs from 2020
15. Knit a sweater for Rainbow
16. Knit socks for my brother
17. Read a book of poetry
18. Read a book by a Native American/Indigenous author
19. Try three new meatless recipes
20. Go for three bike rides
21. Read a book Rainbow reads for school

My plan is to space these out over the course of the year, but just a few days into the new year, I've already crossed one of these off the list and started on another. The first item to be completed was the first one on the list, and I did it on the first day of the year. I'd been promising Rainbow that we'd bake challah, and as New Year's Day happened to fall on a Friday, we decided to do it. I'd call it a success:

We used a recipe we got from a friend that used the better part of a bag of flour (the recipe called for bread flour, but we used all purpose, which seems to have worked okay, but I'd certainly try it again with the correct flour in the future). The result was two fairly large loaves, one of which we gave to my brother and sister-in-law. Rainbow has been eating a slice with Nutella for breakfast and really enjoying it. I think there's probably room for improvement, especially because I'm still very much a novice bread baker. So I expect we'll be making challah again this year, and I'd like to find a recipe that doesn't make quite so much!

The item that I've started on is the sweater for Rainbow. We bought yarn for another Little Boxy (Ravelry link) more than a year ago -- it's the three skeins of green yarn in the photo in this post -- but I didn't get around to casting on last year. But her original Little Boxy is started to get small, and after she discovered that some critter had nibbled a hole in it when it she took it out to wear it for her school photos this fall, I knew it was time. I had wound the yarn and printed out the pattern already, so over the weekend, I finally cast on. 

Despite how it might look, it's not twisted -- that's just a stubborn circular needle cord twisting up on itself. I've already modified the pattern by working the ribbing at the bottom for a full inch rather than the few rounds that Joji calls for; experience has taught me that a small amount of ribbing does nothing to control the roll of stockinette. The project is living in my brand-new custom-made Oak & Arbor bag using fabric I bought last summer when Rainbow was doing her sewing camp and I got a little overambitious. Susie does amazing work, much better than anything I could do, so I gave her this fabric and one other print to make me a couple of bags. I highly recommend her bags if you're looking for some new containers for your projects!

I think that's enough for today, don't you? I'll be back tomorrow with my word for the year. If you're headed back to work today, I hope it's an easy day!