This is the third part of my three part review of 2020 – A Very Weird Year. Click to read part 1 and part 2.
A Very Cold Spring and Summer
By the time Spring came around, I was ready for some warmer weather and sunshine. Unfortunately, the sunshine was late to arrive and we had snow twice in September. Even as I write this on December 31, it’s still cold enough to have the heater burning and we haven’t had a day over 25 degrees yet.
At the end of September I took a few weeks off work. I’d gotten into the habit of working long hours and not taking a lunch break and I was exhausted. The days were longer which was nice, but it was a very cold ‘holiday’ stuck at home and unable to travel.
Our neighbour put a small mob of sheep in the paddock next to our house, and I really enjoyed having them around. They stretched their necks over the fence to munch on my plum trees and the lambs chased each other around all day. Sadly the sheep have since left.
After my break I returned to work and took up my bad habits of working too late and not taking breaks. Along with my colleagues, I was holding out for the mandatory Christmas break in December. Victoria’s COVID-19 restrictions didn’t lift until October, and it felt like we were all just hanging in there – waiting for a bit of fresh air and freedom. Of course, in regional Victoria the restrictions were nowhere near as strict as they were in Melbourne so I didn’t have it too bad.
My obsession with baking continued, and I made liquorice shortbread creams – my greatest invention to date.
The week before Christmas, the office shut down for the holidays and the weather improved. I started my break by making a Christmas wreath, pottering in the garden and enjoying freedom from restrictions (apart from wearing a mask in public).
uninspired knitting
Throughout Spring of 2020, I did very little knitting. I published a sock pattern and made two samples, but the six pairs of socks I planned to knit for Christmas didn’t get past the swatching stage. I started to knit a hat based on a pattern I wrote five years ago – but it remains unfinished too. My enthusiasm for knitting really struggled.
There were two successes though. Firstly, I joined a knit-along for a mystery shawl called The Sharon Show. It was nice to be told what to knit instead of having to think, and I finished the shawl on time. I still haven’t sewn in all the ends, so it may be a few weeks before you see it.
The second success was starting to knit a double bedspread covered in bobbles. I’d enjoyed working on a really big project with the Cleckheaton Poncho, so I felt making a bedspread would give me the same sense of achievement. If I finish this one by the end of 2021 I’ll be very pleased. I hope I don’t end up disliking the colours before it’s complete.
Plans for 2021
Now it’s the last day of the year I’m not sure how to feel. I’m exhausted but optimistic about making the most of being able to work from home. After weeks of zero COVID-19 cases in Victoria, the Premier has just announced some new years eve restrictions in response to a fresh outbreak in Melbourne.
Although 2020 is almost over, I really think 2021 will be just as strange and we will never really return to the pre-COVID way of living. Whatever it brings, I hope to make the best of 2021.
