November Goals and other miscellaneous odds and ends

I just had to share my daughter in her Halloween costume! Isn't she cute? Paul took her out back for a photo shoot in the dark to try out the night setting on his camera, and told her that ladybugs eat leaves. She was happy to oblige with this pose LOL.



November will hopefully prove to be quite productive on the WIP front. Of course, we all know I tend to think I can knit more than I actually can in the short timespan of a month. But, you know, that last day of the month seems to be so far off on the first, I just don't seem to be able to help myself.

First off, I am planning to finish the Swirly Girl socks. I am really liking this pattern, and the yarn I chose for it. The green is a wonderful merino sock yarn I purchased this past summer in Atlanta. The dyer can be found on Etsy (LotusYarns). I plan to purchase more of her yarn. It's been a dream to work with and I really like the colors. The contrast I am using is Claudia Handpaints' Fingering silk/merino.



Next on the list of WIPs I would like to finish in November is the Rose Wrap Shell. I finally got all the pieces put together and added the edging. All that's left is to weave in the seventybazillion and one ends, add the ribbon ties to the inside, and add buttons. If I don't go completely nuts weaving in ends, this should be done this upcoming weekend.



I didn't get the Dragon Scale Gauntlets finished in October, but they were my first FO of November. I like the pattern, but I'm thinking a solid color yarn would have been a better choice for this project.



I began the needle felting on the too small Ravenna Satchel yesterday while watching football. I didn't get very far, but I plan to spend some quality time with it this weekend. The ladies in the KAL were right. Even with just a bit of the needlefelting done, I can tell that it will make a huge difference in the looks of the bag. I bought some green handles at my LYS Saturday and plan to either use this as a handbag for myself or possibly gift it to someone. Along with having this finished by month's end, I would like to have the (hopefully fullsize) other one I currently have on the needles finished too.



I ran across some nifty crochet patterns in Ravelry Friday night and started one of them on Saturday. This will be a bellydance hipscarf, and it's going so quickly I should be done with it by next Monday when I start the intermediate classes. Along with this pattern, I also found a dance top, gauntlets, ankle warmers, zil covers, and a bag to carry my dance gear in. Eventually I will have all of them!



I have spent quite a bit of time with the Moorish Stripe Socks, and plan to have them done in November. Next time I want to make fair isle monstrous mutant mansocks on size 0 needles, would someone kindly kick me in the rear and remind me of all my whining about this pair?

Not pictured, but on the list of WIPs I want to complete in November, are the Sweetie Pie Cami, and a Pond Turtle for me. It's a long list, but I think fairly doable.

When I got home from work today there were 2 packages waiting for me.

I received my "Knitter's Treasure Swap" package from Lillian in Canada. She was a great swap partner. I hope she likes what's in her box as much as I like what was in mine.

I received:

IK Holiday Gifts 2008 (great pair of fingerless mitts in there I have got to make)

Japanese Crochet book (lots of great patterns I can't wait to try out)

post it notes

magnet

puppy dog bookmark

lip balm

lavender soap

mini crochet hook

hand made birch needles

Noro Sock yarn

2 skeins Blue Sky Alpacas alpaca/silk

The alpaca yarn is so yummy! I've been petting it all evening. Can't wait to find the perfect pattern for it.

The other package was my "Holiday Ornament Swap" package. Suzanne was my partner this time around and I received 2 great ornaments. The mittens are adorable and I love how elegant the gold/pearl one is.

She also sent me a bar of dark chocolate mint, which is all but gone now, and some hazelnut creme coffee which will get me going tomorrow morning. All of that was boxed up in this adorable handpainted box which will be a great decoration on a table in the livingroom for the holidays. Along with the ornaments and treats, she sent a bone dog toy she knitted for Doppler. He's making out pretty well in swaps LOL. It's so cute how he's playing with it. He almost never plays with toys, but he's playing fetch with this all by himself. Throwing it across the room, then chasing it. And when he gets bored with that, he's using it as a pillow LOL.

Below are photos of the items I sent Suzanne. The vase cover is from Vogue Holiday 2008, and I can't remember where I found the idea for the crocheter's ornament, but when I saw Suzanne crocheted too, I couldn't resist making her one. There will be one just like it on my own tree this year.