November Goals

This posting of goals and accomplishments worked pretty well for me last month, so here goes take two: The November edition

First, to sum up October:

1. Finished the Melon Scarf. Verdict: A. I gave the scarf to a friend from work, and she was (or at least acted!) thrilled. She's even worn it to a dinner party, so I think it's a success. I'm very happy with the way it came out, and I love the yarn (Alpaca Silk from Webs, hand-dyed)--I'd definitely use it again.
   
2. Finished the Socks-that-Rock socks. Verdict: A+. I really like these socks--they're the best fitting socks I've ever made, and I like the yarn. I've worn them four or five times, and so far they're holding up well.
3. Started, knit, and finished the Jitterbug socks. Verdict: A. I used these socks to practice how to do magic loop, and I love love love magic loop. I couldn't stop knitting them--it only took me ten days, start to finish, for both socks. I made the socks a little bit too long, so I mailed them off to my friend L, who is my favorite person to knit for. She's also one of my favorite persons, period, and that has nothing to do with the stash accumulation she helped me with.
4. Started a new pair of socks using this yarn:

Araucania fingering sock wool (75% wool/25% something else), sent to me by L's mom. L's mom knits, but is gasp! allergic to wool. The break-out-in-hives kind of allergic, and evidently no amount of washing or merino-ing help. She can't even where angora, which is supersoft. So it seems to be all animal fibers. But L's mom is moving, and as she's packing, she's getting rid of things (like wool sock yarn) that she knows she won't use. So I've started another portable pair of socks:

The color is much better in the skein picture. I wasn't sure I would like the red-purple combo, but it's knitting up quite nicely.

5. Worked on the SIL Christmas shawl:
and made some real progress. Real enough that I have 26 out of 40 border repeats finished. Which, of course, has made me realize that even though I have way more yarn than the pattern calls for, as I round the last corning, I'm going to be cutting it very, very close. So close I might need to beg, borrow, or steal another, oh, 2 grams of Malabrigo laceweight in blue surf. *sigh* I can't decide if I should rush through the shawl, and see, or go slowly, and put off the inevitable. Given the fact that I've already got a huge line of demarcation in it, I'm not so worried about dye lots. Especially since the line of demarcation came when I switched from one part of the first skein to the next (there was a knot, and I made two balls out of the first skein).

6. Stash enhancement, never blogged: Two skeins of Posh sock yarn, a birthday present
from L. (this isn't why she's among my favorite persons. But it is a good reminder of it!) The yellow/green one is called Primrose, and it's a merino/cashmere/silk blend; the
other is organic merino and is called Harvest. I'm going to try a chevron scarf with them, although the primrose color has more blues in it than I thought it would. I'll see how they
look. For the moment, I've been happy just petting them.

7. Stash enhancement, continued: A Namaste executive bag. I got it about two weeks ago,
and while I love the bag itself, the corners are starting to wear in a way that makes me
sad--I've only had it for two weeks, and haven't been using it that hard. It's my new
everyday bag, but I'm being careful to not overload it. Still, it's a nice bag. If the wear gets
any worse, I'll contact their customer service department and see what they say.


Other stuff, not blogged or photographed: I did get a few more needles from Knit Picks, along with two skeins of Bare in fingering weight. I was thinking a BSJ for my new nephew, but we'll see how it dyes up.

I've made no progress on the Brother sweater--I've decided to call that intentional and say that I'm participating in National Knit a Sweater Month, and see if I get it done this month.

I didn't learn socks on two circs (or, rather, I learned it, but I'm not practicing it), but as I can do magic loop now, I'm perfectly happy with that.

November goals:

1. Finish the Stripes and Torchon scarf--or at least, finish up all the yarn I have and, if I run out, work on finding more.
2. Start and finish the Brother sweater.
   
3. Knit socks for T, who saw me knitting them and said he'd like a pair. Of course, he's three, so he may not remember, but I do. And he's got little feet, so they shouldn't take too long.
4. Start a chevron scarf and see if the colors I have will work. I'm saving this as a treat, since I can't wait to use the yarn.
   
5. Learn a new technique. I'm not sure what--maybe cabling without a cable needle, since I'd also like to
   
6. Knit at least one pair of Fetching mitts.

As for stash, I don't need anything. I might see about some longer circ in sizes 0 & 1, for magic looping socks, but other than that (and maybe some sock yarn . . . ), I'm good. I need to focus funds on Christmas presents, instead!

And I've now been working on this post for almost an hour--wow! I'm going to try and be better about posting, too--not one a day, but more than once a week. shorter ones, maybe!