Wednesday on the morning bus ride, I managed to time things perfectly - I cast off the back of Twist just in time for me to put things away and get off at my stop. unfortunately, the back of the sweater is not the entire sweater, so I didn’t get too far on the NaKniSweMo goal.

so on Wednesday’s trip home, I didn’t want to start the fronts or sleeves yet, so I pulled out the HP bookscarf and got a few more rows done there.

now, back to the holiday knitting!
I started a hat:

and I have the yarn and patterns ready for the rest of the projects:

I just need to get knitting.
5 projects started, 2 finished, 4 more planned.

apologies for yet another post without photos. I had intentions of doing a quick photo shoot last night before/while packing, but I got a bit distracted. I really need to get a progress photo of Twist.

a quick WIP Wednesday update:
Twist is going well. I probably won’t finish by the end of the month for NaKniSweMo, but I’ve made some good progress, I think. I’m at the armholes on the back.

at some point during the week, I ran out of yarn and forgot to pack a new ball of yarn. (I thought I had packed it, but apparently I was having a delusional moment). of course, that means I have nothing to knit on an hour-long bus ride home. ugh! so I studied the pattern a bit. and then I had the amazing realization that there was knitting in my bag. The Harry Potter book scarf to the rescue! (maybe it’s not so crazy of me to carry extra knitting around with me.)

Holiday Travel (and Holiday knitting)
we’re heading down to Wisconsin for the weekend. spending Turkey day with one of dh’s friends and whoever else shows up. and then I’m heading north from there to Green Bay to get together with some old camp friends for a quilting/crafting weekend.

so, last night was spent packing. priorities of course, I packed the sewing projects (the 2nd curtain, pajama pants for me, the quilt I mentioned back in May-ish, and the never-ending 5-year+ quilt. aka my first quilt project that I only ever seem to think about working on when meeting up with my camp friends.). while gathering the fabric, I realized I had misplaced the foot I’d bought to applique the May quilt. I found it in with the rest of the feet for the machine. and then I realized that the pattern(s) I had for pajama pants won’t fit me (one would have if I’d bought the Misses sizes instead of the Junior sizes. note to self, pay attention), so I may need to make a side-trip to the store for that (not a problem, at some point we usually end up in a fabric store).

alright, sewing being packed, it’s time to move on to the knitting. I’ve got Twist with me, of course. and 4 extra balls so I can start working on the fronts or the sleeves. whichever I choose to do, I’m doing both at the same time so they match.
since the holiday knitting has been suffering, I’ve made sure to bring plenty of that as well. but what to bring? well, I was going to force myself to work on L’s mittens from last year, but that’s at the house, so I guess those will have to wait a while longer (dammit!). so I’m taking yarn for L’s gift, A’s gift, the poinsettia wreath, and I think something else.

knitting on the sweater continues. I finished the second ball on the bus this morning. based on the yardage on the pattern, I’m expecting to need 15.

since I’ve got a good portion of the back done (at least 10″ - getting close to the arm shaping), I decided to check how my gauge is doing. seems I’m off. pattern says 19 sts and I’m measuring about 21 sts over the 4″. hmm. I’m making the largest size, which is a few inches over my bust measurement, so I’m thinking (hoping!) I should be ok. at least I’m not on track to have the sweater fit an elephant or something.

I’d like to get back to the holiday knits, but I think half of them got left at the house (we’re going back to get the rest on Friday), so I’m not sure what I have here and what I don’t. we’ll work on unpacking that tonight

I’ve been playing with the knitting machine a bit more. I finished the knitting part of the Harry Potter scarf on Sunday night:

and then I started a hat to practice ribbing. I finished the ribbing part last night, and now I need to take it off the machine and then I’ll hand-knit the decreases at the top. I think I’d be better off hand-knitting the next time I need ribbing (at least in mass quantities). no pics yet.

I’ve also been making good progress on the Vintage Velvet:

the loop of yarn near the needle is about where the first ball of yarn ran out. I figure I’m about halfway through the second ball now.

k-chan #2 was felted back when the clogs were, but I still haven’t taken the time to sit down and sew the handles in place.

I’d also set a goal last month to finish L’s mittens from last year by the end of the month. unfortunately that hasn’t happened. I think I’m going to sit down tonight and at least get a good start on the second one.

and as a wrap-up, I’m a bit bummed to report that I spent absolutely no time knitting socks during socktoberfest. =(

NaKniSweMo starts tomorrow. I’m trying to decide (still) if I want to participate and whip out a sweater this month, or if I’m better off focusing on the holiday knitting. tough call.

holiday knitting has kind of stalled. I need to sit down and start something (anything? everything?). then I can pick and choose what to work on. but I haven’t yet.

at least the overall knitting mojo hasn’t died. Vintage Velvet has sort of become my default project (I’m nearing the end of the first ball of yarn) when nothing else will do. The Candy corn bag is nearly finished - just needs some handles, and maybe a trip through the machine to felt it. k-chan #2 has been felted, I just need to sit down and sew the other end of the handle on.

life is getting a little crazy, so the blog may be quiet. (well, quieter than my usual.) I’ll at least attempt to keep ravelry up-to-date, so the sidebar will reflect progress. (Knitwars will also be kept up - got to keep leveling up, ya know)

and now for a rant about the Bond USM. works great for large stretches of stockinette, no doubt. (that’s why I’m working my Harry Potter scarf on it). but they tell you ‘don’t let the knitting hit the floor’. what they don’t tell you is how to keep it from doing so once it gets to an unwieldy length. and so I’m working it in blocks at the moment and need to figure out how to rig them into something scarf-like at some point. (kitchener? three needle bind off? not sure yet). they do have a customer service number you can call, but that’s only open until 4pm Eastern time. right, because the only time I use the machine is during Eastern time’s business hours. grr.