I hope everyone had a nice couple of weeks over the holidays and enjoyed some time off work, visiting family, or just staycationing, like we did. Here’s what I worked on this week:

Jane Austen Block of the Month prep: I really wanted to get the 2 Shimmer Sky quilt tops done and sent off for quilting, so my November block of the month for the 250th anniversary Jane Austen quilt had been sitting, as had the December block of the month. It took a while but I was able to get all the pieces cut and prepped, and bias tape made for the stems, so “all” that’s left is the actual hand-stitching of the appliqué pieces. I will tackle that this week and hopefully be caught up by mid-month for the January BOM shipment.

I also started a few things for the new year including filling 2 bobbins of singles of a Corriedale handspun that I now just need to ply. The fiber is from Two If by Hand in the Knockturn Alley colorway. Hoping to get that done this week as well.

I cast on the Norrland Hat, which has been in my favorites forEVER. This is possibly the most fiddly knit I have ever done with non-repeating colorwork motifs AND cables, but it is absolutely gorgeous. I’m using the leftover merino/cashmere/silk fingering weight from the shawl I finished up for the pale silver, and a skein of MCN (the dark blurple) from Explorer Knits for the background. I’m about halfway through the charts, so will keep going on this one with a short-term finish hopefully this month.

Some progress on my Geode color collection blanket. My goal for January was to get through another full repeats of the colors this month and I have 1 more to go thanks to some movie nights with my DH. (Colors are a little off here for whatever reason in today’s light.)

And finally this week, I worked up a simple 10” blanket square using an oddment of worsted-weight handspun. One of the Ravelry groups I’m in collects blanket squares from Jan-April and 3 volunteers assemble them into full-sized blankets for donation. One of my goals for 2026 is to make at least 1 square a month to send. (And to keep going past April so I have a stockpile to send when the call for squares reopens next January too.)

Whew! That was a lot! Amazing how much I can accomplish in a week when I only work 2-1/2 days. Happy new year all!