A small challenge.

A lot of my friends do NaNoWriMo. Given that I need to do things like study in November, I don't. (Seriously, JulyWrimo. I'm lobbying for it.) This year, my partner's doing it, and never one to be upstaged by my boy, I'm setting myself a knitting goal:

1. 100,000 stitches.
2. Three finished sweaters.
3. One of those sweaters from swatch to sweater.
4. Oh, and Christmas gifts should be done too.

Crazy? Yep. However, it looks really quite reasonable- I've been tracking my stitches in Numbers (read: Excel for Macs) and it looks like I can knit about 3,000 stitches in a typical day. Given that I will have several untypical days of train travel this month, I think 100,000 is just barely reasonable. If all else fails, I will still knit more stitches than my boyfriend writes words, so I can pretend that they're equivalent and gloat over that.

Any other unreasonable goals in the audience?

The WIP Round-Up

Today I got an IUD. For those of you who do not grok acronyms or do not have uteruses or both, that's an Intra-Uterine Device, a little bit of hormone-releasing plastic that will be managing my birth control needs for the next five years. The downside to this? I suddenly understand why period cramps can debilitate people. Seriously, ow.

So, I'm sitting on my couch and taking stock of the Christmas knitting. It's going quite well, actually- I think that it's quite realistic for me to finish another one today (given that I have no desire to leave this nice indentation on the couch longer than is absolutely necessary), leaving me with two more to finish.

I think I'll be finishing EXTERMIKNIT! today. Mine's knit on 8s in Lion Brand Jiffy, which is a bulky weight acrylic. Not the most pleasant knit ever, but it's over a foot tall and it mostly stands up without stuffing.

I still working on Durrow, much to my embarrassment. I'm still stalled out on the sleeves, but I want to pick it up and start working on it again today.

I also started a pair of plain socks in Knit Picks Felici, colorway Time Traveler. My new "plain sock" gold standard appears to be top-down, 10 rows of 2x2 rib, then switch to 3x1 rib. Flap heel with heel stitch, plain Kitchenered toe. Stockinette works for me, but if I'm giving the socks away (like I will be here), the rib gives a bit more wiggle room.

I've got a pair of Mystery + Manners mittens that are giving me fits, but I WILL conquer them. I also need to cast on the second Double Heelix, which I might do eventually or something.

Beyond that, I just downloaded something for myself- Tinder, from the Brooklyn Tweed Look Book. I'm intending to go swatch to sweater with this by the end of November. Crazy? Definitely. I also want to make myself a pair of Eugenia's Mittens because it's cold out. Oh, and I want to knit some of my sock yarn stash into nice new socks for me, and...

I really should just quit while I'm ahead, shouldn't I?