For Christmas, my sister and I made National Park quilts for my parents, sister and brother-in-law, and niblings. 6 of them were small lap quilts, with a simple print, batting, and a backing that we sewed. The last was a queen size quilt for my sister’s camping trailer – it was a challenge putting it together in my small house. We put it up on quilt frames, but it sagged, so ended up pinning it on the floor.

My knitting adventures for 2025:

1) I made a pair of flip-top mittens out of yummy Malabrigo Rios yarn. The thumbs took forever to figure out (I think I redid them 10 times between the thumb gusset and the thumb flap issues). I adore the cables. Pattern here: https://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/gabriella-7

2) Frog & Strawb hat that was a kit from the Rose City yarn crawl a couple of years ago – my first attempts at colorwork! I’m attempting to make a matching pair of mittens right now, but I have to do some maths to convert it. Yarn is Penelope, a wool and silk blend, which is super soft and squishy. Pattern here: https://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/frog–strawb-hat

3) Lace top. This took up the majority of my summer. It’s a unique construction where you start under the bust, knit down, and then pick up for the bust and knit up for the arms and neckline. I made an “design flaw” where I twisted my yarn overs, thereby making the lace much more tightly woven, which means I don’t have to wear an undershirt, and it worked perfectly. I also added a lace panel at the neck because it was a little too revealing. The neckline is a little wider than what I like, but I enjoyed the pattern enough that I’m tempted to make another one. Yarn is Queensland Coastal Cotton Fine. Pattern here: https://www.ravelry.com/…/kari-blondetopp—kari-lace-top

4) I used my left over skein of the Queensland and made dish clothes when I was in Montreal and Ottawa for a medical conference – great way to pass the time. Pattern is available on the wayback machine and is not worth the $5 on ravelry, since she didn’t create the pattern (it was a pattern from her mother-in-law’s neighbor).

5) I had just a little left to make a Palpitations heart. It was such a fun and simple project that i want to make a whole collection from my yarn scraps. Pattern: https://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/palpitation

Stats: 170 books read in 2025, including 24 audiobooks, which equals 48,554 pages and 280 “hours” (I listen at 1.25x pace, so it’s a little less) of reading.

Favorite fiction: Atmosphere, The Night Circus, The Island of Missing Trees, This Summer Will be Different, Sorcery and Small Magics, If We Were Villains (which is best read after listening to Judi Dench’s voice doppelganger talk about all of the Shakespeare plays).

Favorite nonfiction: Midnight in Chernobyl and Challenger by Adam Higginbotham (listen to the audiobooks), Shakespeare: The Man Who Pays the Rent by Judi Dench (again listen to the audiobook), A Walk in the Park (ditto), The Book of Alchemy.

Biggest disappointment: James. And Yellowface.

Only two books I DNF: Lessons in Magic and Disaster by Charlie Jane Anders and You, Again by Kate Goldbeck.

I had two main goals: 1) listen to 1 nonfiction audiobook a month and 2) to read for at least 5 minutes every day. Besides continuing the daily reading, I haven’t decided what my goal for 2026 should be. Ideas?

Click to read all of my oh so pithy reviews by month.