Stripes on Stripes on Stripes

I am making excellent progress on my striped sweater, despite having an incredibly busy week. We're getting ready to order costumes at the dance studio, and I've measured well over 200 dancers in the past four days. We're finally done, now, and I'm definitely looking forward to the weekend. 

I'm quite a bit behind on my NaNoWriMo novel, as I've pushed it to the back burner while I've been re-knitting this sweater, but I'm hoping to catch up some over the weekend and next week. I've completely given up on the idea of a NaKniSweMo sweater, so my Linney is going to sit on the bookshelf for a few weeks while I focus more on my Currituck Sound (which is very behind) and my Great Northern KAL project. I want to have both of these done soon, but the Indie GAL starts after US Thanksgiving, and I do have quite a bit of giftmas crafting to start.

My plans for this weekend are to rest and to not knit too much! This sweater should be finished tonight (since this photo was taken, I've passed the halfway point on the second sleeve), and I think once it's blocking I might take out some fabric to sew a top for myself. I've been knitting at least six hours a day for the past nine days, so I'm ready for a bit of a change! 

Re-Knitting

So, it has been a while since I posted. Friends, I was ashamed. I had finished my striped sweater, after over a month of work. I lovingly wove in the end and laid it out to block, all the while ignoring the niggling voice in the back of my mind saying it looked a bit large.

And then I tried it on.

Oh, kittens, it was awful. Due to some incredibly strange arithmetic on my part, I knit two sizes larger than what I needed, and the result was a very woolly sack. It would have been a lovely sweater for someone larger than me, but alas, I cannot change my size. I tried to think of ways to fix it quickly, but I realized pretty much immediately that I needed to rip it out and re-knit it.

So, in a week, I've knit a sweater body and half a sleeve. I am too exhausted to be mad at myself, but I'm hoping to have this pattern ready for release over the weekend. I haven't really had time to process how upsetting this is yet, because I've been so focused on re-knitting it, but based on the reactions from many of my knitting friends I will probably be weeping in a corner eating chocolates for a week once this is done.

Some Progress, and a Minor Setback

So, yesterday I managed to do something that threw out my wrist. I'm not sure if it's a nerve issue this time or if it's a tendinitis flareup, but I'm back in a brace. It's slowing me down, but I can still knit, which is about the only thing keeping me sane right now.

I had play practice last night, and it went pretty well. Our Scrooge is out of town right now, so we focused on some background scenes and ensemble work. After I got home, I pretty much ignored everything else in favor of watching election results come in. South Dakota is still completely red (disappointing, but unsurprising), but I feel like I can breathe a bit after seeing most of the nationwide results. I want to live in a country that is compassionate and welcoming, where sick and disabled people aren't at risk of bankruptcy and homelessness, where immigrants are welcomed and embraced, and where religious minorities can worship freely, and I like to hope that this country took a couple small steps in that direction last night.

As you can see, my Linney for NaKniSweMo is barely any bigger than it was on Monday. The twisted rib is really kicking my butt, but I have handbell and choir rehearsal tonight, and I can usually bang out quite a few rows there, so fingers crossed for a productive evening! 

Weekends

Happy Monday, kittens. I hope you all had a good weekend. Mine was pretty darn good: I finished the striped sweater (it's blocking now, and the pattern is with my TE), I took a very long and well-deserved nap, and I had lunch AND dinner with my mum yesterday. I also started my Linney for NaKniSweMo, and after three hours of work, I have...the pocket linings and almost an inch of twisted rib. Friends, there is SO MUCH twisted rib in this sweater, and it takes SO LONG and it hurts my hands and I HATE IT, but it will look SO GOOD when it's done. That is, if I ever finish it.

Saturday was the annual holiday bazaar at the Lutheran church up in the city. We've been going to the bazaar for seven or eight years now, and it's definitely the start of the holiday season for us. I made out really well this year—for a total of $14 I got: a decorative plate with a rooster on it, a cast-iron biscuit pan (heart shaped!!), a skein of Lamb's Pride for slippers, most of a Norwegian sweater (the front and back are done, and there's most of a sleeve, and yarn to knit the other one, but I haven't decided yet if I'm going to rip out the sleeve and do them both from scratch yet), a painting, four books (a facsimile of Shakespeare's First Folio, Eleven Plays by Ibsen, Knitting Without Tears, and the Reader's Digest Guide to Houseplants), a spool holder for my studio, some cloth napkins, and a geranium.

After all the excitement on Saturday, yesterday was mostly a rest day for me. I hung out with my dogs, caught up on laundry, and watched a ton of GBBO, which was just what I needed. This week is going to be pretty busy—I didn't get any writing done on my NaNo novel over the weekend, and I'd like to catch up, plus I have play practice, dance class, and choir rehearsals, some sewing to do for the dance studio, and on Saturday we're helping my sister move into her new house! I'm definitely glad I took a lazy day when I could!

Linking up with Crafting On

Novembering

And now it is November, also known as the month where Kat loses her mind.

I'm currently juggling three design projects in various stages of development/completion, and I'm already participating in the Great Northern KAL and the Currituck Sound NMKAL, so of course I decided to jump into NaNoWriMo and NaKniSweMo.

I haven't started my sweater yet—I'm going to knit Linney, and I know I have very little chance of finishing it. My plan so far is to pick four to six days over the course of the month and try to just bang most of it out in a few marathon sessions. We'll see how that goes.

Oh! And I'm in another play! We're doing a dinner theater of A Christmas Carol in mid-December, and rehearsals just started for that. I'll be playing Marley's Ghost as well as a few ensemble roles, and I'm really excited to see how the play turns out.

Between novel writing, three KALs, design work, and play practice, I'm not sure if I'll have time to even breathe this month, but I'm hoping to get as much done as possible. I am well stocked-up on coffee, so I really just need to get comfy and knit and type until I can't do either anymore!

New Pattern: Brie

Named after one of my most fashionable friends, Brie is the perfect addition to your fall wardrobe.

Brie is a fun and cozy hat with tons of texture. Featuring shrinking horseshoe cables against a background of moss stitch, Brie is an interesting knit perfect for both variegated and solid color yarns.

Pattern includes both written and charted instructions.

Brie is 20% off on Ravelry through Monday, November 5th!

Slowly

It was a really hard weekend for me. The shooting at Tree of Life really affected me, and I'm struggling with a bunch of feelings and a general feeling of powerlessness. This week I'm donating all my pattern sales to HIAS in honor of Jerry Rabinowitz, David and Cecil Rosenthal, Rose Mallinger, Bernice and Sylvan Simon, Daniel Stein, Joyce Fienberg, Richard Gottfried, Melvin Wax, and Irving Younger. May their memory be a blessing.

I spent most of the weekend at home, knitting and reading. Yesterday I had auditions for the winter dinner theater. I've finished the first sleeve on my striped sweater, and I'm working on the back decreases on my Not-So-Lonely Unicorns. The second clue of the Currituck Sound NMKAL comes out today, but I still have a few more rows left on clue one. On top of all of this, I'm debating starting another sweater for NaKniSweMo. I mean, what's one more project? 

New Pattern: Aurelie

Aurelie is a pair of light lace legwarmers, perfect for layering over tight or leggings when temperatures start to dip. Knit in a bright color, Aurelie is the perfect accessory to cheer up the grey days of fall and winter.

Aurelie is worked in the round from the bottom up.

Lace pattern is both charted and written out.

Aurelie is 20% off on Ravelry through Monday, October 29th! 

A Break and a Trilobite

Oh man, it feels like it's been ages since I've visited with you all! I took a quick mini break over the weekend—I had appointments in the city on Thursday and Monday, so I took Friday off as well and made it a little vacation.

Things are going pretty well on the knitting front. Fullerton is finished, but for buttons, and I'm just a few rows away from binding off the body on my striped pullover. I cast on my Not-So-Lonely Unicorns for the Great Northern KAL, and I'm about halfway through the first clue on the Currituck Sound NMKAL.

I also FINALLY got pictures of my Trilobite hat, which is probably one of the most charming things I have ever knit. I love paleontology so much, and it was one of my first passions. I've wanted to knit this hat almost since I started knitting, and I'm so glad I finally got around to it.

The yarn is from my friend Annika; it's an old skein of Mal Rios, but the color tag is long gone, and I couldn't tell from looking on Ravelry which grey it is, but it was absolutely perfect for this hat.

Ravelry Page: Trilobite

Pattern: Trilobite by Hannah Mason

Yarn: Malabrigo Yarn Rios

New Pattern: Sledge

Sledge is a cozy, double-layer cowl. One side is plain stockinette, but inside (or outside!) is clean ribbing in a contrasting color.

Sledge is knit in the round and seamed to finish and it requires 220yds/201m each of Main Color and Contrast Color.

Sledge is available on Ravelry now and is 20% off all week!