Taking Care of Business

I meant to blog the end of the month wrap up last weekend, but my mom was here, and it just didn't happen, and then this week was insane. 

So, on to the end of the month wrap up.  I didn't quite make my goal to completely catch up with September by the end of the month. My New Year's plan for writing was to write 8,000 words a month until the novel was finished.  I sort off mostly blew off July and August, and then decided in September that I would try to write 21,043 words to catch up with July and August, and make September's goal.  I managed to write 20,383 words which is 660 short of my crazy goal.  Which honestly, I'm disappointed I didn't make it, but I probably have that to blame for my current massive head cold too.  I've been pushing myself a wee bit hard. So for October I need to make up the 660 for September and write another 8,000 words, if I don't finish the book before that. (Please let me finish the thing!!!)  As of this morning, I have 539 words towards October, for a new grand total of 128,766 words and 425 pages.

As I said in my last post, I did manage to make my spinning goal for the 2011 Yarn & Fiber Stash Reduction Plan.  I need to spin 3.38 oz of something in the stash for October to comply with the Purple Calendar of Doom.  My goal for the year is to spin 4 oz per month, but I have a carry over from last month.  It's really quite amazing how much this has reduced what I had in the closet. 

In knitting news, I finished Shawn's hat out of handspun. It's an Ashland Bay Merino roving that I purchased a million years ago and spun a million years ago.  I'm happy with how it came out, but it does need to be washed and blocked still.  It's one of those hats that covers your neck and your face sticks out.  It's for Shawn to use at work.  I used a freebie pattern from Lion Brand I found on Ravelry.

Last Sunday at the Concord Knitting Meetup, I finally started the sock I had kitted (is that a word?) up with a pattern as emergency knitting for the Cape (where we went on vacation in July), because I didn't have anything else on the needles. I'm using Absinthe from Knitty.com as the Pattern and Miss Babs Yummy Superwash Sock in Iris for the pattern.  It's a toe up, which I have done before, but this time I used Judy's Magic Cast On which is much easier that the figure 8 cast on, once I figured out how to do it from the pictures. 

On Wednesday at the monthly evening meeting of the Concord Knitting Meetup, I finally started getting myself together for Stitches East. I'm taking a couple of classes and I need to get my homework together. For one of my classes, The Sweater Map, I have to knit a a 4" by 4" swatch.  So that's done. (I know, you're all fainting in shock.  I'm planning on knitting and designing a sweater for myself that is not purple).  I'm also taking Aspiring Designer Bootcamp mostly to see if I want to make taking designing to the next level as part of my goals for 2012.  For that class I have to get together printouts of my website (which I don't have) my blog, and any other online presence I have (Ravelry, I'm assuming) and at least one pattern I've published.  Should be interesting.  I'm also taking a class called Stashology 201 where I'm supposed to bring partial skeins of at least 10-12 different stash yarns for swatching and maybe sharing, and various needle sizes.  I haven't put the stuff for the design class or the stash class together yet, but I'm hoping to do so this weekend.  I also need to find time to research restaurants I can go to in Hartford that will accommodate my food allergies, at least for dairy and egg, and I can work around everything else. We're planning on going to the student banquet, as well and hopefully there will be food I can eat.

In going to the gym even though I hate it news, I went 14 times in September.  This month will be harder, as I'll be away for Stitches, but I'm going to try to stay mostly on track.  Although I've already blown off two planned visits this month, one due to my cold, and one due to needing to reorganize and clean the closet area after I bought plastic shelving at Lowe's last weekend.  I also bought new lighting.  Fibery people - did you know they have Ott light bulbs for regular lamps now at Lowe's?  And that the regular Ott lights at Lowe's are really cheap compared to the Jo-Ann Fabrics?  I needed a new bulb for my little folding table top Ott light.  It was $35.00 at Jo-Ann's and $9.00 at Lowe's.  That's crazy.

Because of my massive head cold, I'm missing the New Hampshire Wool Tour with my friend Katie K this weekend. I'd go anyway, but I don't want to spread my cold to Katie. I'm really annoyed.  Also taking place in New Hampshire this weekend is SOAR, which I would love to hit the market today too.  If you guys can go, you should.

Anyway, I was up because I went to bed an ungodly early hour because of the cold, but I might see if I can go back to sleep.  I feel fuzzy again.  

Stay tuned for further updates as I manage to do them :)