NaKniSweMo is Done!

I was very happy that I was able to finish my NaKniSweMo sweater...and I didn't just finish on time either, I finished early and wore it to both of the Thanksgiving dinners I attended! It was fabulous and I'm so in love with the sweater!

The color is somewhere in between the colors in the pictures. It's a fantastic teal color. I'll have to find a friend to take some pics of me out in the sunshine so you can see what it really looks like. Hands down I love it though! Most complicated project so far!

Counting, Counting, Counting...

Have you ever taken a sweater and actually calculated the number of stitches that you knit? I never really thought about it before joining NaKniSweMo this year. I've been keeping track so far and I'm 10,920 stitches in already...It feels crazy knowing that I've already knit that many stitches! The minimum mark to hit it 50,000, so knowing that it's only November 5th and I'm a fifth of the way there makes me happy...I'm about an inch or two away from starting waist shaping too, that's always a happy goal to hit when knitting a sweater!

Back to knitting!

NaKniSweMo 2011 Among Other Things...

Sometimes I think I'm crazy when it comes to knitting...other times I know I am! Ha! This is one of those times where I know I am!

I decided to join the NaKniSweMo for this year. What is NaKniSweMo you ask? It's National Knit a Sweater Month, which runs alongside of NaNoWriMo, which is National Novel Writing Month. The rules are that you can't start your sweater until November 1st, you have to finish by November 30th, and your sweater has to be about 50,000 stitches. That seems like a lot, I know, but really just about any sweater will fit the bill.

I have chosen to do Ardara by Carol Feller. I won her book on Ravelry in September and in October there was a gorgeous worsted weight colornep yarn on sale from Galway. I scooped up a sweater's worth and am totally in love with the color!!

Gauge Swatch for Ardara!

So now on top of all of the other knitting that I have to do I'm adding this in. I figure I usually knit a sweater in a week to two weeks, so extending this out to a month shouldn't really be that big of a deal. It has a crazy amount of cables in it but I can't wait to make it. I think it'll be my most complicated sweater to date!

So what's on my needles? Well I need to start and finish a Christmas stocking order by mid-November. Planning on picking up the rest of the yarn for it tonight so I can get started. The knitting itself shouldn't take me that long, which is good. I also have three orders for my knit wristwarmers, so I would like to get those done too, each pair will take about 16 hours to knit, so that's not a big problem. I do like to change things up for each wristwarmer so the pattern isn't ever really the same. I have the Saroyan knit-a-long that I'm also participating in. I think I'm about one third to halfway done on that. I have to have that one finished by December 15th. Plus Christmas knitting! I would like to go to my godparents again for the Christmas Expo so that means that I should have something knit up for them when I go. Maybe a nice manly hat for my Uncle Ed and wristwarmers with a matching hat for Aunt Pat. Mom is getting a few knit items this year. Plus a few knit things for friends at work. Hmmmmm...have I taken on too much? Probably, but I like a challenge!



Designer...Me?

When I started knitting a few years ago, I never thought it would lead to where I am today. And I certainly never believed that I would be designing my own patterns. But here I am, in the middle of designing my first sweater and more designs flowing around inside of my head. A few courses I've taken and my Whitehead retreat definitely helped me to feel more confident about my knitting. Meeting other people who are just as passionate as I am has definitely given me the inspiration to do more.

So here goes, time to let my imagination run wild.

Itchy Fingers...

Do you ever get what I like to call "itchy fingers?" I get that way when I haven't gotten my daily dose of fiber. ;) I especially notice it when I start to get stressed or anxious at work. I guess I crave the peacefulness of knitting, the rhythm of my stitches, the comfort of yarn and needles in my hands.

Only a few hours until my work day is over with, then I can get back to my knitting...Sometimes this work thing totally gets in the way of my knitting time...

Vacation of a lifetime!

This year I decided to take a vacation by myself to Maine to go on a knitting retreat. Most of my non-knitting friends thought I was a little crazy to do something like that, while my knitting friends were pretty darn happy for me. It was the best vacation I've ever taken. :)

I arrived knowing no one, and left with 6 new amazing knitting friends. I spent 6 days on a gorgeous island off the coast of Maine, soaked up the sun in an Adirondack chair, and knit. We had classes on dyeing yarn and designing sweater patterns custom for our bodies and started on projects with the yarn that we dyed. Completely amazing!

We left Friday afternoon from Emery's Wharf in St. George, Maine on Biscuit!

 Arriving at Whitehead Island.

 My first view of the Lightkeeper's house on the trail up from the dock.

 My first sunrise on the island.

 The lighthouse (still in use today) and the lightkeepers house from our sunrise cruise.

 Adirondack Chairs with a perfect view of the ocean.

 Learning how to custom dye yarn for projects, we got artsy and decorated the dory on the dock.

 Knitting: From the Yarn Up class with our fantastic instructor Shannon Okey.



It's Been a While...

It's been a while since I posted last, and I would like to try and update this more often as I'm trying to get better about taking pictures of my projects while I'm working on them (one good reason to have a smart phone!) So hopefully this will be the first of many new updates...

So what's new?? Lots of knitting, that's for sure! I just finished the Dunlin top from the Seedling booklet by CEY. Love love love it! It was a super quick knit and I'm thinking of making it again in a wool blend of some sort for the winter and lengthening the sleeves to a long sleeve length (maybe even make it a little more form fitting too! :)

On my needles I have the February Fitted Pullover by Amy Herzog, I'm making it in Classy by Dream in Color, I also am working on two vests (same pattern, one in chunky and one in worsted weight) from a Berroco pattern booklet. The chunky vest is in Vintage Chunky by Berroco in a gorgeous plum color and the worsted weight is Weekend by Berroco in a slate grey color. I'm attempting to get both of them done before I get to Maine for my vacation in three weeks.

That's right, I'm going on vacation by myself to Maine!! I'm taking a knitting workshop on an island in Maine over Labor Day weekend, then spending a few days with some friends that moved up there. Can't wait!! :) It's going to be so wonderful!