In a perfect world, we would have the time, energy and resources to indulge in every single hobby that takes our fancy. But we do not live in a perfect world. We have work. We have lives to live. And we also have a limited amount of mental bandwidth to dispense with. Some of our hobbies stay with us throughout our lives. Others gradually fall by the wayside as new interests, responsibilities and priorities take their place. Every now and then, though, something prompts us to revisit them. For me, that prompt has been facing the prospect of re-entering the job market and the need to have something that keeps me grounded when the job hunt inevitably gets underway. Some of these have been sitting patiently in the background for years. Others are more recent additions to the “I should really get back to that” pile. Either way, these are…
If you’d like to see the original list, you can find it here: 26 Things To Do In 2026. This year’s Things To Do list was a part-continuation, part re-attempt of last year’s list. I felt cautiously optimistic when I drew up this year’s list because I had chosen what I felt were more attainable goals. It’s only halfway through 2026 and so much has happened, from rebuilding my savings to the very real possibility of re-entering the job market. Looking back over the list, I’ve realised that some goals were more important than I expected, while others have quietly evolved into something completely different. It’s as good a time as any to take a few minutes to revisit that list and see how things are going. What Went Well 8. Check the fridge/cabinets/etc before going grocery shopping. And stick to a shopping list. This one was definitely more of…
My relationship with food was complicated long before I ever set foot in O Bar & Dining. I didn’t realise it at the time, but a work Christmas party would end up changing the way I thought about food entirely. As a child, I was an exceptionally picky eater. Convincing me to try something new was often a challenge, and for many years food felt more like a source of negotation than enjoyment. While my tastes eventually broadened, it wasn’t until I started my first job that my relationship with food began to change in a meaningful way. There I was, 19 years old, bright eyed and juggling multiple things at once: learning how to be an employee (because I was never allowed to have a job while I was still in high school) and learning the tools of the trade that would go on to serve me well during…
I think that it goes without saying that my holy grail cardigan pattern is PetiteKnit’s April Cardigan. I’ve made so many of them that I’ve had to put a few of them into storage for the time being. Even though most of my outerwear knits have been cardigans, I’m not entirely opposed to trying the odd sweater pattern. Over the years, I’ve become very particular about sweater patterns, favouring those with a v-neck. Yet, for all of the sweater patterns that I’ve pulled up, there haven’t been too many that were simple (a la PetiteKnits) and featured a v-neck. Then it occurred to me: why not try modifying a pattern I know and love? The April Cardigan already ticked most of the boxes. I knew the fit suited me, I liked the construction, and I’d knitted enough of them to feel comfortable making adjustments. Converting it into a sweater seemed…
Crochet and software development don’t seem like natural companions. If you had told junior-developer me that crochet would eventually influence how I approach software development, I probably would have scoffed. At first glance, the two have very little in common. One involves yarn and hooks. The other involves code and pull requests. Yet the longer I’ve spent doing both, the more I’ve realised that many of the habits that make me a better crocheter have also made me a better developer. Don’t Rush One of the first lessons crochet taught me was that speed and progress are not necessarily the same thing. If I rush through a row or round, there’s a good chance that I’ll miss a stitch somewhere along the way. The mistake might not be immediately obvious, but several rows later I’ll find myself wondering why the piece no longer looks quite right. Software development has a…
Life was never meant to have a template. This much I do know now. When I sat down to write this post, I had reached a point in my life (both the professional and personal) where a rebuild of sorts seemed well overdue. Life had gotten comfortable. Predictable, even. On weekdays, I’d wake up, turn on my work laptop and get to coding. At the end of the day, I turn off my laptop, fix dinner and do my nighttime routine. On weekends and days off, I’d do my morning routine before either heading into the city for a day out (if it was a Saturday) or getting the life admin tasks sorted (if it was a Sunday). Even a workday had its own steady rhythm. Mondays were when most of the meetings were scheduled. With a few later in the week if needed. Daily stand up meetings were a…
2025 was something. Between major household upheavals and everything else in life, sticking to my goals has take a backseat.
With 2026 on the horizon, it’s as good a time as any to set my goals for 2026.
So, without further ado, here are 26 things I want to do in 2026.
You know how you have that itch to retry a project when the previous attempt doesn’t work out the way you want it to? Yeah. This iteration of the Moondancer Shawl by Dominique Trad was one of those projects. The very first bash at the project was a yellow-and-grey number, which was made so I could wear it to the Harry Potter Feast event. Yes. I was a Hufflepuff at the time. And no, it was not worth the money I shelled out for the ticket to that event. Since then, a couple of things have happened. Firstly, I found myself in posession of more yarn than I had proper storage for (and needed to use up). Second (and most importantly), I am no longer a Hufflepuff. Yes. I am now rocking the red and gold of Gryffindor house. Which means that a) the Hufflepuff-inspired shawl is no longer appropriate…
Dear Diary, It’s safe to say that the April Cardigan from PeiteKnits has become my go to cardigan pattern. Because it’s on the simpler end of the spectrum for cardigan patterns, it’s really easy to adapt the pattern to suit your own tastes. Take, for example, this iteration. (Yes, I have made more than one of this pattern) Instead of going for the solid block of colour that the original pattern calls for, I went for a series of stripes around the bottom edge of the body and the sleeve cuffs. Originally, I was angling for a gentle pink to green gradient, but the striped effect turned out ok. This was also the first interation where I tried the “perfect” 1×1 ribbing. The end result was that the cuffs and bottom band were a lot snugger than previous iterations. That, and the buttonholes were smaller. As for the placement of…