another bout of startitis.

...my last bout of (documented? :-) startitis was at the end of august. followed two weeks later by a commitment to stop setting unrealistic knitting goals. followed two weeks later by a set of what I thought would be reasonable goals for the month of october. the good news is that I think I did well by those goals. I met all of them except starting katie's birthday sweater. But that's because she won't be home for thanksgiving after all and my first try-on opportunity will be december 16. (YAY! and believe me, I'll be ready by then!)

I even managed to squeeze in a totally unplanned hat, the beginning of a new lace shawl and finishing the body on my grey goose.

so I started four projects this week. and purchased yarn for two more.

and I was feeling good about it all except that marc finally complained about my knitting taking over another room of the house. an important one. especially with sara coming home for a birthday dinner tomorrow.

yes, from any angle it's a mess! and even I knew it was bad when I couldn't find the remote for the tv this morning. I am happy to say that I've since organized that mess and moved it to the counter so the table is cleared for eating. and tomorrow I'll get the extra yarn and stack of patterns and my needles moved back to my yarn room. [I haven't figured out a good way to keep six in-process projects neatly in sight while I work on them. as a start, I ordered another project basket. maybe I can keep the traveling projects in one and the at home projects in another? welcome better ideas!]

so those four new projects? here they are!

raveled here

the rocky coast cardigan from coastal knits. I was impressed I managed to hold off starting this one til I finished those october projects. swatching doesn't count! last night I finished the raglan increases, tried it on and had my sister take a picture. today I've worked a few inches of the body. love working a sweater on size 10-1/2 needles for a change!

raveled here

gyllis, the latest release from stephen west (happily not colorwork meaning only a few ends to weave in!). I love lace in worsted weight and the shape of this shawl won me over the first day I saw it. the pattern was only available as a kit through an LA-based yarn store til november 1. I admit I stalked the pattern page for about seven hours on tuesday til it was released. I'm using a llama/mulberry silk blend in a gorgeous holiday red to knit this. a shawl on size 8's goes quickly too!

this is the next pattern I'm suggesting for my saturday shawl class, so I need to finish it this month for sure.

raveled here

leg warmers in a pretty gray alpaca. katie found a photo of these on pinterest and made me feel like a rockstar when I said I could knit them for her. I started these on monday and it felt good to be knitting 1x1 ribbing in the round on size 2 needles. reminded me of my 2011 sock obsession I guess. but now I'm looking forward to starting the lace (just a few more rounds of ribbing to go).

raveled here

and finally, the biggest project. a jared flood pattern (umaro) knit in rowan big wool. 14 balls. like I said, it's "big". thank goodness for size 15 needles!

...and while I'm still running high on startitis, it seems like the best time to document what I plan to accomplish for november:

finish grey goose (another 500? yds)
finish rocky coast (another 750? yds)
finish gyllis (500 yds)
start katie's vitamin d (tbd)
start catkin (tbd)
knit a hat for charity (200 yds)
~2,000 yds...should be a challenge, but doable if I stay focused!