Whatever Happened to Selfish Knitting Month?

Well, it lasted about five minutes.  Okay, maybe a little longer but suffice it to say that November didn’t really turn out as planned.

It got off to a good start when I cast on Nuppy Diamonds, November’s installment of Chrissy Gardiner’s CSK. 

 

After working a few inches on that I put it aside and cast on Liesl with some beautiful Punta yarn I’d bought early in the new year. 

I might have also cast on a pair of plain, vanilla socks.  I had a bad case of startitis and I was enjoying it.

A few days later a certain someone who shall not be named…cough, Jessica, cough…called and said she was in a time crunch and could I please test-knit something for her asap.  Well, what are mothers for?  I sighed and turned my attention to her project, all the while gazing longingly at my other WIP’s.  (It’s all done now but it’s super-secret so I can’t show you any pictures.) 

Meanwhile, my brother-in-law, Joe, requested a new pair of felted slippers for Christmas.  He’d loved the ones I’d knitted him two years before but had worn holes in the soles and had had to resort to a pair of store-bought.  I hadn’t planned to do any more gift knitting but I’d made that decision before I’d received Joe’s Christmas list.  How could I refuse?  I’m a sucker for people who really appreciate my knitted gifts. 

While I was buying yarn for Joe’s slippers I picked up some for myself since I’d recently noticed some holes in my own pair.  And while I was at it I might as well knit Cameron a new pair—his slippers were practically falling apart and the yarn for a new pair had been sitting in a bag beside the couch for months and months.  Every time I saw it I felt guilty. 

Sigh…add three pairs of slippers to the list.  Okay, one pair was for me but it’s one of the few projects I knit for the product, not the experience, and it always feels like a chore.  It definitely does not qualify as selfish knitting.

Not long after I began knitting Joe’s slippers Cameron received a Christmas list from our brother-in-law, Ed.  You guessed it, it included a request for a pair of felted slippers since his pair had also developed holes. 

Now, technically Cameron has Ed’s name for Christmas and I am only responsible for gifting to Joe but Ed has a special place in my heart.  He has had my name for Christmas for the past two years (and, as luck would have it, has my name again this year) and has bought me knitting stuff!!  Two years ago he even went so far as to phone one of the indie dyers I’d mentioned and ask her for yarn recommendations.  Obviously, he is truly worthy of a knitted gift, even if I didn’t draw his name.

So…make that four pairs. 

As I wove in the last stitch on the last slipper I swear I heard angels singing.

By the way, from now on all the slippers I knit will include leather soles in the hopes that they will last longer.  With any luck I will only have to replace them every few years.

In addition to Christmas knitting I have also been doing some Christmas sewing but this has been a labour of love.  Morgan’s dolls are sorely in need of clothes so I have been stitching up an entire wardrobe.

I still have a few more outfits to go.  Come Christmas, her dolls should be among the best dressed in town.

So with all of this and Andrew’s birth too, there hasn’t been a lot of time for selfish knitting but I have managed to squeeze in a few things.  I’ve finished one Nuppy Diamond sock

and Liesl.  It was a nice, quick knit but I’m having trouble finding just the right thing to wear with it.

Sorry for the crappy photo—the weather’s been dreary lately plus my good camera is in the shop.

I’ve also been working on a set of winter accessories.  It all started with spotting a pair of red gloves in the Fall 2009 issue of Vogue Knitting.  I had the perfect yarn for them, Madelinetosh Tosh Sock in “Tart”.  Then I realized that one of the cones of yarn I’d bought in San Francisco had the same red and black tones and would make a great matching triangular scarf.  And if I was going to make gloves and a scarf, I might as well knit a hat to go with them.  I tracked down some Madelinetosh Vintage in the same colourway (not easy to find, as it turns out) for a slouchy beret.

  

Sadly, I don’t expect that December will yield much time to work on them.  We are expecting houseguests from both sides of the family this weekend and will be caught up in the various activities family visits involve.  Then, of course, with Christmas approaching, we’ll be busy with holiday preparations and social events.

Therefore, it looks like Selfish Knitting Month is going to have to be postponed until January.  We plan to kick it off with another weeklong getaway right after New Years, location still to be determined.  There are so many things I want to knit I’m not sure how I’ll decided what to take along with me.  I can’t wait for the chance to knit undisturbed for an extensive block of time, without thinking about all the things I should be doing instead.

Which reminds me, I have a house that needs cleaning so it’s time to sign off… 

I hope you’re finding some time for selfish knitting.