NaBloPoMo – c’est finis!

Writing a blog post every day is hard. Or rather, writing a blog post that I think readers will find interesting or at the very least entertaining and doing this every day is hard. But I did it!

National Blog Posting Month wraps up today, so I thought I’d take a look back of some of my favorite posts from this month.

November has been a month of finishing, or quasi-finishing things: my Leyburn socks, begun sometime in late August or early September and finished earlier this month at a work meeting; my mom’s cardigan which is on hold; and I finally finished my Bandelier socks.

I got to know a little more about a couple of designers who had long been on my radar, Tiny Owl Knits and Jeannie Cartmel. I shared some of my tips for various knitterly skills; hopefully they’re of some use to someone.

So, November’s been good to me and I hope it’s been good to you too. Bring on December, and a break from posting every day. 😀

Bandelier socks, explained

A brief aside before I begin, I’m incredibly annoyed with the weather lately. Yesterday morning it was nice and sunny and I thought “excellent day for taking photos!” Except then I had to go to my volunteer shift, so by the time I got back, the sky was gray and overcast. And then last night, it started snowing and was quite blustery for a good half an hour, and even though we were supposed to get snow today, now it’s just windy and NOT SNOWING. La Niña, you can move on any time now.

Luckily, I do have a brand new pair of stranded colorwork socks to keep my feet warm, even if the sky is not giving me the snow I’d like.

The first modification I made was to use sport weight yarn instead of fingering. No, this was not for any particular reason, other than the fact that I’m a dunce. When I found the Brown Sheep Nature Spun in a store, I got all excited and snatched up 8 colors of the sport weight; got home and realized I only needed 7 colors of fingering weight. After numerous swatching fiascos, I finally settled on a needle size that would allow me to keep the stitch count in the pattern AND get the fabric over my heels.

That didn’t account for the difference in row gauge, however, so I had to get a little creative at the heel and toe areas. At the heel, I split one of the row sections in half and did the first half on the leg, then finished it up on the foot. Please don’t ask me what I did at the toe; I’m not sure I managed to repeat that section on the second sock, so I couldn’t even guess.

Weaving in the ends was a pain; blocking them was an adventure (it involved an iron, and then prompted me to do a bit of ironing of other clothes). They’re a bit snug, but very warm. Now, if it only it would snow, so I could test out their insulation ability.

FO: Quickly, quickly

I’m pressed for time so I will write more about the process and the modifications I made tomorrow, but here’s a photo of my finished Bandelier socks.

Organization revisitation

About a month ago, I shared a list of knitted items I had hoped to finish by the end of the year. Let’s revisit this list:

• Finish Mom’s cardigan. Due before October 31. Progress: One sleeve finished, the other sleeve half-finished, progress photos need to be taken and uploaded. SHAZAMISH. (reminder: waiting for my mom to try this on)

  

• Finish my Leyburn socks. Due before November 12. Progress: One sock finished, other sock started and a few inches into the foot (they’re toe-up). BAZINGA.

  

• Finish my Bandelier socks. Due before November 27. Progress: One sock finished. BAM.
  No photos yet, still weaving in all the ends, but I hope to do that and block them today and share finished object photos with you tomorrow.

• Finish my Berkshire Dolman sweater. Due before December 15. Progress: Reworked part of the body to make it a bit longer, and now I’ve started on the upper front or back section.
• Make a pair of mittens for myself. I have fallen in love with Elinor Brown’s Slanted Peerie Mittens from Interweave Knits Gifts 2010 and went stash diving to see if I had anything that would work. I totally do. Due before December 31.

So things are moving along, on time and maybe even a little bit early. And now I need to add a couple of things.

• Mittens for the little Ian monkey. Due December 15. Also need to weave a couple of scarves for his parents.
• A crafty project for two different swap partners; due January 15.
• Pair of woolen socks for my Aunt Katherine.
• Hat for my friend Shannon, who sent me yarn (MALABRIGO) to knit her a hat. No real due date, but we picked out an easy hat pattern so it shouldn’t take me too long.

Since at least a couple of those involve weaving, and the mittens are going to be small, and the socks can be a heavier weight yarn, and I’ve already knit the hat pattern once before, I’m thinking these additions will all be fairly easy.

OH if I save the socks for January, that can count for the first of my 12 pairs in 12 months goals. Look—multitasking!

Friday Finds

An abbreviated Friday Finds this week, as I’m traveling and haven’t had a lot of time to go searching. As always, email me if you have something you think should be featured here!

• In continuing with this week’s unofficial Fair Isle theme, Lisa Shroyer posted a brief peek at some colorwork designs from an upcoming issue of Knitscene.
• Indigirl wrote up an excellent review on the knitter-friendly features of the Apple iPad. I very much want one, but I’m waiting for a version with the built-in camera. Oh, and money. I hear that helps.
• This has been floating around the internet for a little while now, but if you make any purchase of $40 or more at local yarn shop and send your receipt to Classic Elite Yarns, they’ll send you a free pattern booklet and mini-skeins of yarn, just as a thank you for supporting local shops. Details at the CEY blog.
• Your moment of zen: Virginia Shawl by Kimberly Delacruz, one of the new patterns in the Three Irish Girls Spring look book.