In which our heroine announces her insanity

For the third year in a row I am going to attempt National Blog Posting Month. For the last two years I succeeded which is a great thing in my book. I am listed on that site under the id: dharmawrites, because I keep this illusion that my writing will become a habit and that I will improve in this "skill".


In 2006 I did NaBloPoMo along with Lacevember (the main blogsite is no longer in existence) and completed my first real lace project which was a gift for my father's girlfriend. It also was my most successful semester in graduate school, which has fallen by the wayside, shall we say. Moving on....The pattern I chose was Liesl, if the gallery is still up my scarf is there, which I find pretty cool. Here is a photo of it. I used yarn I had purchased with no project in mind, Berroco Softwist (I have two skeins in a great red still marinating). This project was my first time using a lifeline, which for this pattern I discovered I didn't need for long.

Last year I attempted to add National Knit a Sweater Month. To say that I did not succeed is an understatement. So this year I am going to aim to finish the sweater I started last November for TGF. It is about 75% done. The biggest problem I had was the sleeves. I screwed up the increases and wound up knitting the first sleeve essentially 1 3/4 times. Plus I hate the needles I've been using to do the sleeves - Clover Bamboo. They are not nearly as smooth as Crystal Palace ones, so that plus the soft but acrylic yarn, it's a bit like nails on a chalkboard. So the second sleeve needs finishing, about 50% is left then I need to join things up and complete the yoke.

In addition I want to finish and make a second sweater for a pair of brothers (they're little, never fear). The first one only needs 1.5 cable repeats (which have been killing me!) and then the sleeves. The second one has not been cast on yet but is the slightly smaller version thankfully. The color (#4000)is much richer than I was able to capture this time around. When I post more about this project I hope to have better photos. This yarn has been had to get just right in photographs. It's my first top down sweater.

Luckily for me I have slacked on posting about projects so some of November will be filled with more details about these and others because I currently have, um, seven things on the needles and plans for, while at least one more kid sweater, plus something or two to match a project that will be detailed in a later posting.

In addition to all that, drum roll please, on Monday, November 3rd I begin working full time in a temp to hire position. So November will be busy don't you think? 40 hours a week at work, finish two sweaters, start and finish a third, finish another project (possibly with matching pieces), and finish a shawl. Plus, keep taking Pilates two nights a week for another 3 weeks or so. Plus two knit nights a week (which will help with the above and hopefully keep some sanity in check). Oh yeah, and I need to think about some holiday knitting. And of course posting every day. I suspect the I may do the "Wordless Wednesday" thing which has the benefit of a few days where I don't have to write and motivation to use my new camera.

So I will be going from zero structure to a lot with a ton to get done. Based on previous experience I know I do better with more things on my plate (see earlier paragraph about NaBloPoMo 2006). However it has been just over 12 years since I had a commitment to a 40 hour week. Granted who knows how this will pan out as it's a tryout period for both the company and me. I would like to try to stick it out for at least a good two months to give it a good amount of time to see if we are a match. Plus it would do a lot for our financial situation if I can do this. Please wish me luck, send comments and candy. See you tomorrow!