Year of Projects

I am back!!! Happy New Year!
I have not posted a real Projects post since the first part of November and I have missed it and all of you dear readers.

I am so excited to say that I have finished 14 projects since July from my list! I have to admit that my original list has been altered a bit, but for everything taken off, something new was added. It was a bit of an ambitious list to start with, given my low years of experience and not so quick knitting speed. I will be adding a couple of things for the Grandys, but also probably taking a couple of things off too.

Today, I am finally showing off my Shaelyn Shawl which I finished back in November but had never gotten around to blocking. I LOVE it! Next week I will be blocking my Triplicity Shawl and hope to show you in my next update post.


I am also showing off the little Boheme vest (with modifications) which I made for 8 month old Amelia. She will look so sweet in it.



I am planning to start some of these little mitts for my Grandys, starting these mitts for myself, and I will be starting the Mitts/Mitten KAL, designed by Michelle at Knit Purl Hunter and sponsored by Skacel, the US distributor of Addi needles. It will be a busy Mitt month for me I think!

Again, Happy New Years to you. My wish is that 2012 brings you all nothing but good things!
*smiles*

As the year winds down....

Christmas is over and the New Year will begin in just a matter of a couple of days.

People are beginning to de-decorate their homes, (me included), and settle in for the long winter still to come. Taking the Christmas decs down is always bittersweet--the house feels so bare and less cozy, yet it feels more organized. Speaking of organization, I have been doing a fair amount of that also--cleaned out the pantry, organized yarn, cleaned off book shelves (which resulted in a bag of books for the donation station), cleaned off and reorganized my kitchen counters and picked up our bedroom. Tomorrow, I hope to finish some thank-you note writing and some small sewing projects--bless Pinterest for all the new fun ideas I have found. :)

I decided as I packed away my holiday decor, that I would leave a few things out--just to maintain a bit of that wintertime cozy---

This little counter used to hold the mail and all kind of paper junk. No one liked how it looked, so we figured out a new mail storage spot and I added this little bit of cozy to my kitchen!

My husband suggested we leave this twinkle light swag up for the winter, which makes me all kinds of happy, because twinkle lights make me smile!

Even though I had to clean all the cedar boughs off my shelves and mantle--I decided to keep a few in water on the shelf--it just feels a bit like the holidays with out all the holidayish stuff!
Are you leaving stuff out too?

Many bookie bloggers are doing their end of the year stats posts, and normally I do one too. But not this year. My completed reading for 2011 was a bit paltry compared to other years and really I am alright with that. The thing which demanded equal time from my pool of free time, was knitting. I learned a lot of new techniques, met lots of new people, and finished many projects.

I will tell you my favorite reads of 2012--there were several and they are listed in no particular order:

1. The Tower, The Zoo and the Tortoise
2. The Weird Sisters
3. Minding Frankie
4. The Violets of March
5. Major Pettigrew's Last Stand
6. A Lesson in Secrets (Maisie Dobbs)
7. Prayers For Sale

My page total was somewhere around the 8,500 mark--which sounds like a very pathetic amount compared to so many others--but it is what it is and hopefully next year will be a bit more productive!

And my completed challenges for 2012? Not so great either. I got so far behind that I kind of quit keeping track-but I did post the other day several for 2012 that looked do-able for me. I was really hoping Becky from Becky's Book Reviews was going to host the A-Z challenge, but I have seen no mention of it. I might just challenge myself to do it on my own as it is always kind of fun to make the books fit!

Are you tallying up stats? Are you surprised by your totals?
Happy New Year and happy reading!

The Telling Tales

Hosted by Bex over at An Armchair By The Sea.

I am in for the Level 1 and plan to read Twisted Fairytales – retellings or modern interpretations of fairytales or myths. For inspiration, look here.

Some books I would like to read:

• Princess of the Midnight Ball by Jessica Day George(on my Kindle)
  
• The Night Fairy by Laura Amy Schlitz
• I, Coriander by Sally Gardner
• Except the Queen by Jane Yolen
• Rapunzel's Revenge by Shannon Hale
• Goose Girl by Shannon Hale ( on my Kindle)
• The Book of a Thousand Day by Shannon Hale
• Godmother: the secret Cinderella story by Carolyn Turgeon (I own)
• Entwined by Heather Dixon (Kindle)
  

The Telling Tales Reading Challenge 2012

Rules:

· Challenge runs from January 1^st 2012 to December 31^st 2012. You may sign up to participate at any point between these dates.

· Any genre counts as long as it is related to fairytale, folklore, or mythology in some way. If you’re not sure if it counts – as long as you can make a case for why it should, then it does!

· You can re-read books for this challenge as long as the reviews you link are written during 2012, and the challenge can also overlap other challenges.

· Whatever you read must either be a version of a fairytale or myth, or contain fairytale or mythological characters, settings, or sequence of events.

· Every month there will be update posts either here or on my sister’s blog. Please link up your reviews for that month on this post.

That’s it!

Now, the important bit.

The Categories

These are the levels:

Level 1: Read 5 books

Level 2: Read 10 books

Level 3: Read 15 books

Level 4: Read 20 books

Level 5: Read 25 books

You can sign up for any level, and choose to read either purely the categories listed below, or to participate in the Mix n Match category, or the Adaptation Amalgamation category, or all of them if you're that brave!
Mix n Match – Exactly what it says. Sign up for a level and pick that number of books from any or all of the other categories.

Outdo Yourself

Because I only managed to finish 28 books for 2011, I figure it would not be hard to complete this challenge! I am going for the highest level- "I'm on Fire!" which will require me to read 16+ more books--and really, I should be able to break the 50 book yearly total mark.

1.The Bungalow
2. Entwined

Details: Hosted by The Book Vixen

• Runs January 1, 2012 – December 31, 2012 (books read prior to 1/1/12 do not count towards the challenge). You can join at anytime.
• The goal is to outdo yourself by reading more books in 2012 than you did in 2011. See the different levels below and pick the one that works best for you. Nothing is set in stone; you can change levels at any time during the challenge.
• Books can be any format (bound, eBook, audio).
• Re-reads and crossovers from other reading challenges are allowed.
• Grab the reading challenge button and post this reading challenge on your blog to track your progress. Please include a link back to this sign-up post so others can join the reading challenge too. You do not have to be a book blogger to participate; you could track your progress on Goodreads or LibraryThing.

Levels:

Getting my heart rate up – Read 1–5 more books
Out of breath – Read 6–10 more books
Breaking a sweat – Read 11–15 more books
I’m on fire! – Read 16+ more books

2012 TBR Pile

I am choosing the "A Friendly Hug" level, which is 11-20 books for the year. I am already committed to 12 books with my Mount TBR challenge so this will be do-able for me. The lovely ladies hosting this one will be holding monthly link up posts with a unique theme, mini-challenges and the chance to win a prize, with a big prize chance at the end of year. I am putting the rules in the bottom of this post, per the sign up instructions, but you really should hop over there and sign up and read all about it there.
Go on.
You know you want to!

This TBR challenge is being hosted by a whole slew of people!
See!

Evie from Bookish - http://www.evie-bookish.blogspot.com @SeoEvie
Nicole from All I Ever Read - http://www.nicoleabouttown.com/ @Nicoleabouttown
Bonnie from Hands and Home - http://www.handsandhome.ca/ @HandsHomeBlog
Donna from Book Passion For Life - http://bookpassionforlife.blogspot.com/ @BookPforLife
Caitlin from WatchYA Reading - http://whatchyareading.net @caitlingss
Rie from Mission To Read - http://missiontoread.com/ @missiontoread
Vicky from Books, Biscuits & Tea -http://booksbiscuitsandtea.blogspot.com/ @alouetteuette
Christa from Hooked On Books - http://christashookedonbooks.blogspot.com @ChristasBooks
Jenna from Fans Of Fiction - http://fansoffiction.blogspot.com/ @fansoffiction
Angel from Mermaids Vision - http://mermaidvision.wordpress.com @mermaidvisions

Challenge guidelines:

1. This challenge will run from Jan 1, 2012 - Dec 31, 2012.
2. As we would like to see quality reviews linked up to our monthly wrap-ups, only bloggers can enter. Sorry about that!
3. Any genre, length or format of book counts, as long as it is a book that's been sitting on your shelf for some time now. Only books released in 2011 and earlier! NO ARCs and 2012 fresh-off-the-press releases allowed!
   
4. You can list your books in advance or just put them in a wrap-up post. If you list them, feel free to change them as the mood takes you.
5. When you sign up in the linky, put the direct link to your post about joining the 2012 TBR PILE Reading Challenge (You need to include the info + host list + challenge button. You can also grab the button code and add it to your sidebar!)
   
6. You can move up levels, but no moving down.
7. Sign-ups will be open until Dec 15, 2012, so feel free to join at any time throughout the year.
8. At the end of each month one of the hosts will post a wrap-up. Every wrap-up will have it's unique theme, a mini-challenge, a giveaway and place for you to link up your reviews from this month. For each review you link up, you will get one entry in a drawing of one book of choice from Book Depository. It's open to INTERNATIONALS. For participating in the mini-challenge you will get +1 entry.
   
9. If you miss a wrap-up post + giveaway, you can link up your reviews next month. Do not, however, try to link up one review twice - we will be checking ;)
10. December is a wrap-up for the whole year. All the book reviews you linked up January-November + the ones you'll link up in December will be entered into a HUGE giveaway - 12 books, 12 winners, INTERNATIONAL.
11. You don't have to follow all the hosts to join the challenge, but you do have to follow all of us to be entered in giveaways!

Levels:

1-10 - A Firm Handshake
11-20 - A Friendly Hug
21-30 - A Sweet Kiss
31-40 - Love At First Sight
41-50 - Married With Children

Reading Challenge Addict

I want credit for the challenges I am doing, and while I am only gearing up for the 2nd level, consisting of 6-10 challenges, I know I will join a few more throughout the year--
Let the games begin

Here is the link to my challenge page for 2012--there the buttons can be found for each of them. Click the button and be transported to that individual challenge page!

This challenge is being hosted by Cheryl and Gina and this what they say:

We're not making this a difficult challenge, actually, it's going to be very simple!

1. This challenge will begin on January 1, 2012 and end on December 31, 2012.
2. Write a starting post joining the challenge and outlining your challenges.
3. Track all of your challenge accomplishments - good & bad.
4. Stop by to join us in the mini-challenges, updates & extra giveaways throughout the year.

Easy, right? Who wants to be in on the fun? What else will we be doing? We'll have giveaways for our participants to enter and unannounced special drawings for commenters on the site so be sure to leave your email address with your comment! Are you ready? Sign up here to enter:

Join us to stamp out our addictiveness to reading challenges -- or just help us find more & enjoy our obsessiveness.

Mount TBR

Hosted by Bev over at My Reader's Block
You all really should be joining too because I know you have one.
We all do.
The every growing Mount TBR!

I will be joining at the Pike's Peak level--12 book from my shelf. I will probably read more than that but don't want to get locked into a level that doesn't give me some wriggle room for new finds!

Bev says:
I don't have a TBR shelf. Oh, no. I have "Mount TBR"...possibly a whole mountain range.

With that in mind, and having read Susan Hill's Howards End Is on the Landing (where she spent a year just reading from her own shelves, I've decided to create my own TBR reading challenge and plan to concentrate on reading primarily from my own books this year. And you're invited to join me in knocking out some of those books that have been waiting in the wings for weeks....months...even years.

Challenge Levels

Pike's Peak: Read 12 books from your TBR pile/s
Mt. Vancouver: Read 25 books from your TBR pile/s
Mt. Ararat: Read 40 books from your TBR piles/s
Mt. Kilimanjaro: Read 50 books from your TBR pile/s
El Toro: Read 75 books from your TBR pile/s
Mt. Everest: Read 100+ books from your TBR pile/s

And the rules:
*Once you choose your challenge level, you are locked in for at least that many books. If you find that you're on a mountain-climbing roll and want to tackle a taller mountain, then you are certainly welcome to upgrade.

*Challenge runs from January 1 to December 31, 2012.

Southern Lit Challenge

Hosted by The Introverted Reader, Jen

I used to read a lot of Southern Lit, and have accumulated quite the stash which has been neglected in the last couple of years. I am looking forward to digging into that pile and will be joining in at the Y'all Come Back Now, Y' Hear level.

My choices will come from this list:

• The Sugar Queen by Sarah Addison Allen
• Fancy Strut by Lee Smith
• Blue Hole Back Home by Joy Jordan Lake
• gods in Alabama by Joshilyn Jackson
• Tending to Virginia by Jill McCorkle
• Dixieland Sushi by Cara Lockwood
• The Cotton Queen by Pamela Morsi

The nuts and bolts of it:

Read a book(s)--non-fiction or fiction of any genre, adult or young adult--written by an author from the South and set mostly in the South.

Levels:

Level 1--C'mon in the house! Read 1 book.

Level 2--Pull up a seat and stay a while! Read 2 books

Level 3--Have a glass of sweet iced tea, honey. Read 3 books

Level 4--Y'all come back now, y'hear! Read 4 books

The challenge will run from January 1, 2012 to December 31, 2012. You can join in anytime throughout the year.

yArN aLoNg

Ginny from Small Things, hosts a weekly event called Yarn Along. Here she encourages us to share what we are knitting and what we are reading all together in a tidy little post.

I have not been able to get my act together enough to participate in this since October! I was shocked that it had been that long--but here for your reading and viewing enjoyment is my photo for the week:


I am reading, The Bungalow by Sarah Jio--and I just have to say how thrilled I am to be aware of such a great local author. You can read all about my love for her book(s) here, and I am sure that there will be another glowing review from me real soon--well, as soon as I finish The Bungalow. Her books are the kind you just snuggle down and get lost in. If you follow the link above, you will also get to see the book trailer for this new one.

The knitting project is the hat I did not finish in time for Christmas Day for my oldest son. I promised him I would finish it this week--and with this weather we are having, he could really use it. I am using a Cascade aran weight and it is so nice. The pattern is a great one too, called the Regular Guy Beanie--super, super easy!

That is all for now, except I thought I would share a picture that I love of 2 old ornaments that are hanging on our tree--

Yes, I am crazy...

Edited: 12/28/11
(This challenge was supposed to have officially finished on December 1, 2011, but I have seen no acknowledgement from the host of the challenge since her original sign up post. I want to read some of these books, but tend to put them off--so I am pretending this challenge is still ongoing--I will be changing the list up a bit though)

So for 2012, I am committing myself to reading 6 books off this list! Then next year I will read more. :)
Anyone want to join me? Let me know!



( From February 2011:
Michelle from 3m is hosting Book Awards V. I never finished book awards IV and the challenge blog fell by the wayside for unknown reasons. But I have decided to join again this year, and am using mostly book choices that I had chosen for the 4th challenge. I only need to read 5 of these spread out over 5 different awards. The challenge runs from 2/1/11 through 12/1/11.

Here is my list, subject to changes:

1. Small Island by Andrea Levy
2005 Commonwealth Writer's Prize

2. The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time by Mark Haddon
2003 Costa/Whitbread

3. The Little Bookroom by Eleanor Farjeon (1955)
Carnegie Medal

4.A House of Children by Joyce Cary (1941)
James Tait Black Memorial Prize

5. Three Junes by Julia Glass
2002 National Book Award

6. Giliad by Marilynne Robinson
2004 National Book Critics' Circle

7. Empire Falls by Richard Russo

Pulitzer Prize

8. We Need to Talk About Kevin by Lionel Shriver
2005 Orange Prize

9. Bel Canto by Ann Patchett
Pen/Faulkner Award

10. The Children's Book by A.S. Byatt
James Tait Black Memorial Prize (2009)

11. What the Dead Know by Laura Lippman
Anthony Award (2008)

12. Heat and Dust by Ruth Prawer Jhabvala 1975

Booker Prize

13. August by Gerard Woodward

Whitbread finalist for first novel award---2008

14. The Big House by George Howe Colt

National Book Award Finalist 2004

15. Name All the Animals: a memoir by Alison Smith

2004 Barnes & Noble Discover Great New Writer Award

16. Pictures of Hollis Woods by Patrica Reilly Giff (Newberry Honor Book)

17. The God of Small Things by Arundhati Roy
Winner of Booker Prize

Read Your Name 2012

Another fun, low pressure challenge--I missed it last year. I will be reading my first name, Kim.
K.
I.
M.

Victoria is hosting this challenge and this is what she writes:

The challenge is to read your name in book title first letters, ultimately spelling out your name. That means:

Using your first name, or blogger name, or your pets name, or even your favorite literary character's name; whichever you like, choose books with first title letters that spell out your name. Such as my name: Victoria. the first book's title would start with the letter V, then the next book title begins with I, etc. Make sense? (I hope so!)

Rules/Guidelines:

1. Whenever you have finished a book for this challenge: If you have a blog, come back here and leave your review link in the Mr. Linky that will be up; for the book you've read & reviewed. If you do not have a blog, please just leave your progress in a comment. :)
2. The challenge runs from Jan. 1st 2012, to Dec. 31st 2012. You may join at any time between Jan 1st and Nov 30th.
3. Last but not least, be sure to sign up using Mister Linky Below! & If you want to, leave a comment with what name you're going to use and where it came from. :)
4. The hostess's preference is that you read the books in order!
   

2012 Challenges

It is time!
Christmas is over, and the pressure that accompanies it. I am off work until January 3rd--and am settling into that glorious feeling of vacation.

So of course, it is now time to look at the new challenges and events being offered for 2012--all of which I have found while perusing the A Novel Challenge site, found on my sidebar. I am very thankful for a place to go where the challenges are all gathered in one spot. So, while I am trying to be a bit wary of biting off more than I can chew, here are the challenges I am interested in:

What's in a Name 5









The Book Awards 5 (This challenge was supposed to have officially finished on December 1, 2011, but I have seen no acknowledgement from the host of the challenge since her original sign up post. I want to read some of these books, but tend to put them off--so I am pretending this challenge is still ongoing--I will be changing the list up a bit though)







Read Your Name Challenge







Southern Literature Challenge











Mount TBR Challenge











2012 TBR Pile (Monthly review link up posts and prizes)










The Telling Tales Challenge











Out Do Yourself: (because goodness knows my reading totals are pretty paltry for 2011--it won't be too hard to up my game for 2012!)








My own personal A-Z Challenge: 2012









Reading Challenge Addict (because I should get some credit for all this craziness!)








Perpetual Amy!











What are all of you up to, for the upcoming reading year? I would love to hear which challenges are tempting you!

January 1 to December 31, 2012
Hosted by Beth Fish Reads

Between January 1 and December 31, 2012, read one book in each of the following categories:

1. A book with a topographical feature (land formation) in the title: Small Island
2. A book with something you'd see in the sky in the title: Moonwomen
3. A book with a creepy crawly in the title: Bees in the Mist
   
4. A book with a type of house in the title: The Bungalow (finished)
   
5. A book with something you'd carry in your pocket, purse, or backpack in the title: Instructions for Visitors or Letters of a Woman Homesteader
   
6. A book with a something you'd find on a calendar in the title: Wednesday Sisters, August, or Between Here and April.

Let the games begin!

A Year of Projects: where I plan and show off my new Addi's!

Wow!
What a whirlwind month that has just flown by with a poof!

We had a beautiful Christmas, filled with lots of love, laughter, family, food, joy and the knowledge that " For God so loved the world he gave his only begotten son for us" My wish for all of you dear readers, is for the same in your corner of the world!

I have been squeezing in some knitting time every chance I got this month-but still did not manage to complete all 3 hats I was knitting for my 3 sons--but I will probably get that last one completed by tomorrow! These are the first things I have knit for my boys!


The thing that took away some knitting time, besides life and the never ceasing tasks to complete for Christmas Eve and Day, was a little foray back into sewing for my Grandy Girls. But now I am feeling more focused on my knitting plans!

One of the most exciting gifts awaiting me under the tree yesterday came from my wonderful husband. He remembered how I have been wishing and pining away for a set of my very own Addi Clicks. But with the state of the economy and our finances, I never in a million years dreamed that he would make my dream come true. I could not have been more surprised when I opened that box-Oh the joy!! (And yes, there were tears--both in my eyes and his!)



Now I need to get busy and complete this little Boheme before my chunky little Amelia outgrows it--




**I am not sure what new projects will be up next--except I plan on joining Knit Purl Hunter's next round of knit along, where she has planned to give us a mystery mitt pattern which she is calling "Winter Buzz".

**I want to knit up a couple of these adorable mitts for my Grandys--the weather where their new home in Yakima is located can be quite bitter!

**And I also want to knit pair of these mitts for myself using this yarn I won from Harleagh

Since I last posted, I did manage to finish 2 shawls, but they have not yet been blocked. I am hoping to get to that this week and share photos next Sunday.

Until next week--happy post holiday wishes are sent from me to you.

Carol of the Bells

A little Christmas music--I love this!

wEeKeNdInG

frigid temperatures
early morning outside jazz performance--made tolerable by Starbucks!
girlfriends over to visit
gingerbread houses: sticky frosting, heaps of candy and the priceless sound of much laughter
tree decorating
Christmas music
Christmas shopping
knitting
reading
movie: Miracle on 34th Street
time spent looking at the new offerings of reading challenges for 2012!

I saw this weekend feature over on Cloudberry's blog and over at Amanda's

**smiles**