Singing Snowmen Cards

I bought this die set sometime last year, thinking it would be great for Christmas cards.  And then I lost it in my house. Par for the course for me.

I found it after Christmas cards were made, and I decided it would be good New Year's cards. I made three of these cards, with the scarf colors mixed on them. I made a fourth one with just two snowmen for Steve.

I really like this die set, and would definitely use it again - maybe for Christmas cards for new year.  My few criticisms:

• The trio as pictured on the packaging material (and as I made them) has six snowmen arms.  Two of them are the same - just out straight.  I guess that is way the die set cuts FIVE arms at a time.  To get the sixth one, you have to cut the die a second time.  Annoying.  I had arms galore when I was finished.
• The cut buttons and open singing mouths are not all the same.  I didn't realize that when I cut the snowmen.  I popped out the buttons and set them aside in a dish. I then colored them black.  I added tape behind the open tiny holes on the snowmen where the buttons go and then I realized that the nine buttons are not the same.  I had to figure out which of the buttons went where. And I was making 11 snowmen - 33 tiny buttons.  The same problem happened with the mouths - except there were only 11 of them - not 33, thank goodness. And they are larger than the tiny little buttons.

Otherwise, a great set of dies.  Recommend.

Update: Dupont Circle Scarf

 

I blogged about this project back in 2024 at this post, when I first started knitting it.  Wonder why the blog doesn't have a lot of knitting posts? Because I'm still knitting the same scarf!  This post talks about the yarn, which is from FibreSpace in Alexandria, Virginia. I'm knitting the scarf using one of my favorite patterns, Farrow Rib.  It's just K-K-P on a cast-on of 3 stitches (repeating) plus 1.  I'm using size seven needles. 

I think I am about at the end.  I hope I am about at the end!

2025 Reading Stats

 Here are my reading stats for 2025

I read a total of 150 books in 2025.  I didn't start out intending to read that many, but around the beginning of October, I realized it was possible, and set monthly goals to achieve it..  This compares to 56 books in 2021, 35 in 2022, 52 in 2023 and 67 in 2024.  

The graph above is from my Story Graph account - an account I started in 2024 for its statistical tracking.

Here are how the stats worked out:

Question 1: What was the format of the book?  Hard copy? Kindle? Audiobook?  Audiobook is the winner, at 62%.  I read 19% on Kindle and 17% print.  I also read 2% "hybrid" - a combination of methods.

Question 2: Had I read the book before?  Again this year, to make sure I didn't get in a rut of only re-reading books, I set a goal of at least 30% new books. 62% were new books to me.  

Question 3: What was the genre of the books I read?    The winner this year was romance, at 37% followed by mystery at 21%.  Another one of my goals for 2024 was to read at least 4 "spiritual development" books.  I read 6; that category came in at 4% .

Question 4: When were the books published?  58% of the books I read were published between 2020 and 2025;  17% of the books from 2010-2019. 

Question 5: I gave each book a star rating of 1-5.  I gave each star rating a definition (which is too much stuff to share in this post) - fiction and non-fiction had different rating definitions.  My average rating was 4.0.  My lowest rating was 1, and the highest was 5.  

This is my Goodreads profile if you are interested in seeing what I've read.  This page is my Blog Library.  I list faith books here (or other books I've blogged about) with links to the posts.

2026 Reading Goals

Each year, for the past few years, I have set reading goals for the year. Here they are for 2026:

1. Read 50 books.  Last year I read 150 books; my goal was 50. As I read my way through the year, the idea of 100 books approached pretty easily. At the beginning of October, 150 books was within reach. That's a pretty great goal to have reached, but it did cause some "reading pressure." I'm not going to try to do that this year. I'm setting my goal at 50 books, and then not worrying about it. That gives me the freedom to read some longer books, etc.
2. Read 15,000 pages. That's an average of 300 pages per book, which feels reasonable. Last year I averaged 280 pages per book.
3. Read at least 30% new books.  I really like re-reading books, but I do want to read at least some new books.
4. Read 4 Spiritual Development books in the year. Last year I read 6, so this seems reasonable.

Mainly, I want reading to be enjoyable. That's my main goal. 

I'm keeping updated accounts in both Good Reads and Story Graph.  So far that hasn't proven to be an issue at all. I like what each one provides even though at first blush it might seem duplicative. 

I love data!

PS - The bookcase in the picture is one of two new bookcases at our house. Last year sometime I went through all of my books, weeding out ones I would never read again. We gave six boxes of books to our local library, assembled these bookcases from Ikea, and organized the books.  I'm loving it!

December Reading Summary