NaKniSweMo

Every year, http://www.knitgrrl.com/ readers knit alongside the writers over at NaNoWriMo (National Novel Writing Month). So this year, I decided to join in the fun, and I'm throwing down the gauntlet to all my friends. I dare you to join in the fun!

How it works with NaNoWriMo is that the authors have to write a 50,000-word novel in a month. As they say on that page: "This is not as scary as it sounds." Okay, I'm not writing, but I will knit.

So, for you knitters joining NaKniSweMo, you have to knit a 50,000-stitch sweater in a month. If you divide your chosen sweater pattern's rows or rounds by 30, you'll have an idea of how many rows you need to knit each day to make it. I know, counting all those stitches is crazy, but I think it's going to be fun.

So, I am going to try to finish as MANY sweaters as I can in one month. I did cast on a new sweater 2 days ago, and I'm hopefully going to resist casting on the new one that should arrive from Jane Slicer-Smith any day now. And, did I add, I'm going to Stitches East with Robin next week, and those of you who know me, know that I usually cast on a sweater while I'm somewhere on a knitting "va-cay?"

Join me. Go to the NaKniSweMo group on Ravelry and join in on the fun. I DARE YOU!

It all starts tomorrow.

Hey a Contest!

Over there at Rhythm of the Needles, my friend Joanne is holding a contest. And, you can win some yarn! Go check it out and see what you think. Hurry, it's only for like 2 days!

http://rhythmoftheneedles.blogspot.com/

Joanne and I will be at Stitches South together in April. Whoo Hoo!

What to knit? What to do?

I hear the rain outside, and I keep checking to see if it has turned to snow, but not so far. It's about time for our pre-Halloween snow, I still have roses on the bushes and there's a few tomatoes on the vines, but it's cold out there. And maybe we will have a little snow tonight and that's fine, because it's a three day weekend for me and I don't have to work tomorrow.

All this uncertainty about the economy has made me wonder about what I am going to do about retiring and when I am going to do it. I know I do not want to work 50 hours a week anymore, but it's hard to make that leap from a secure job to another when the market is so bad and everyone has taken such a hit. So I sit and think, and try to figure out what to do, knowing that I am not sure and really wishing I was. Crossroads, choices.

And I think the uncertainty has spilled over unto my knitting. I have drifted from one sweater project to another this weekend, and finally picked up the Norwegian Woods Shawl and worked on that for a few hours. And I think about teaching, and if I want to continue teaching knitting, or if I just want to knit what I want and not worry about anything else.

But right now it's so easy not to think about things and just read blogs and knit, so I don't have to make decisions. Chicken.