My 2023 - a Year Review

Time for the annual review of the past year. It's funny how much of the memorable part of the year is actually in these photos - hobbies and travelling, the rest is mostly filling.

In 2023 there was, however, more of the filling and less of the crafting. I had a lot more work and less time for hobbies, in the evenings I was mostly tired and watched films or tv series without a knitting project in my hands. In fact, 2023 is the first year in a really long period of time, in which I haven't knit a single stitch. I didn't assemble any puzzles, I didn't do any cross stitching, I even didn't sew for months. What I did, besides work and household, was study German on Duolingo, read books in German, watch films in German with German subtitles. Still, I did sew a few things - 7 hoodies and jackets, 12 knit blouses, 1 nightgown, 1 silk blouse, 1 skirt, 3 pairs of long and short joggers, 2 pairs of jeans and some lingerie and boxer shorts. Down I've chosen a few, that I consider my more intricate and successful makes.

I didn't have much time for my hobbies and because of work load I postponed again my travel to Vienna, but we still found the time to hike and travel this year. The most memorable travel was our road trip around the country with Gaby and her boyfriend, and the most memorable hikes were our trips to Rila, Pirin, the Balkans and Osogovo mountains. We tried some new trails, climbed a couple of new peaks and ate a lot of crumbles and Tyrolean tarts, made with hand-picked wild berries.

 

Every year in my year review I usually state a few goals for the new 365 day period, which I usually spectacularly fail to meet.  Thus last year I planned for a certificate in German, but I didn't even finish the Duolingo course (because I started a second reverse course). I expected to finish my yellow sweater and knit at least one more sweater for Gaby (nope). I planned to expand my sewing skills and make dresses, coats and jeans. I did that a bit - the silk blouse was quite intricate and I made two pairs of jeans, one is still to be photographed and blogged, however no dresses and definitely no coats. We didn't go to the Black sea coast and we didn't overnight in a tent. 

Looking back, this 2023 review is more like a list of things I didn't do, but a day has only 24 hours and most of my hours this year were filled with work.

I love looking back at my goals for the year in my year reviews, it reminds me where my head was at the beginning of the year, even if I never follow through. So, this year I imagine I will continue with my German on Duolingo and might finish one of the courses (if they don't add new parts meanwhile, I hope they do, there's so much more grammar and vocabulary to be learned). 

I plan to continue hiking and this year the idea is to travel more often to Pirin and to try the tent finally on one of these trips. We also plan to continue our collection of Vitosha's +2000 m high peaks, so far we've got 4 out of 12. And we have an idea for a hike abroad - we plan to climb Mt. Mytikas in the Olympus mountain in Greece. I also want to visit an European city and to go to the sea, at least for a couple of days.

As for crafting - I will definitely continue to sew, it's a bit of an obsession with me, and this year I hope I will try silk dresses and coats, and probably a new pair of jeans. I also want to knit a sweater, at least one, and I already have an idea in my head, which is promising. I'll return to assembling puzzles from time to time and I even want to try painting by numbers. 

I am really curious what will come out of these small New Year wishes, not resolutions.

Happy New Year, friends! Stay healthy and enjoy life!