NOvember November 15, 2006

At the beginning of the month I dubbed this NOvember. As in..

NO more excuses
NO more procrastination

It was time to get all the holiday gifts on the needles and underway. That was two weeks ago, and for several days I did really well, lots of progress. Then… well, back to my old ways. My wrists ached a lot, and I grew weary of small gauge (i.e. sock) knitting. As such, the only thing I have close to completion is another Absorba, knit on US 13 needles:

One more strip to go and I’m done on that one. The legwarmers (in purple) can wait, the dishcloths (I need a dozen for Mom’s co-workers for Xmas) are progressing, but the socks need some serious intervention. The peach is lace anklets for grandma. They knit up quickly.. when I actually spend time on them. The yellow is another pair of Broadripples, this time done toe-up and for my other aunt. Every female member of my family has size 7 1/2 feet.. except this one. She’s a size 9, so there’s more knitting involved that I’m used to. Help.

Shifting gears, Debra, who just had her birthday (happy belated b-day!), is having a November calendar contest. We’ve always been calendar whores around here – every room has at least two 2006 ones, and even some 16-month 2007 calendars are up already. Here’s the highlights:

1. Rooms with a View calendar (living room), 2. Simple Pleasures calendar (bedroom), 3. Coffee Cafe calendar (kitchen), 4. Newspapers in Education calendar (kitchen)

I really love the Simple Pleasures calendar: calming, beautiful, great use of color – and very inspirational for knitting! I’ve already spied the 2007 version at Kmart. I’ve left hints to Santa.

One calendar I do not recommend is Simple Knits for Easy Living (taken from the book of the same name). The photos are drab (mostly earth shades with an occasional somber blue), the patterns are too simple for all but the newest of knitters (garter stitch galore), and the author clearly has an obsession with pricey Rowan and chenille yarns. My mother surprised me with it last month, and it was difficult show any enthusiasm about it.