November!

Oh my gosh, you guys, it has been an insane month.  I had work trips to Chicago, Alliston, London (Ontario), Smith’s Falls, Ottawa (and another 500 km route around the area in one day), then Kitchener.  I think I slept more in a hotel room than in my own house!  I am so happy to be done with the Fall Tradeshow season, and really focus on a few things within the office, as well as my home.  As a result, I didn’t get as much done as I would have liked for my own personal goals.  Don't get me wrong - I’m not disappointed with myself - I’m getting better with being realistic and self-care! (Also maybe because I’m too tired, haha).

Without further ado, here’s a wrap-up of my October goals:

Knitting

1.  Finish the heels in at least two pairs of socks.  Christmas is coming and these would make perfect gifts.  BOOM, nailed this one!  I finished heels in FIVE, count’em, FIVE pairs of socks.  It feels so good to get them off my WIP list!!  

2.  Finish the Armande cardigan sweater I'm currently working.  It goes really well with my Chicago wardrobe mentioned above.  And who can resist being wrapped in Malabrigo Rios?! I haven’t even picked this up.  I got started on my Christmas knitting so this took a back seat.  I think I'll put this one over until all my Christmas crafting has been finished.
3.  Make a list of Christmas gifts and start working on them. How's that for a specific goal? LOL  This will consist of slippers, socks, hats and mittens, but I have to figure out which patterns, which yarn and which recipients.  I’m well entrenched into my Christmas knitting - and loving it!  I have so much fun planning and making things for my loved ones!
4. This is a spinning goal, but I'll include it here as it is yarn related.  I have two braids that I've spun for two separate coordinating two ply yarns that I'd like to finish plying.  These won't likely see any knitting action until the new year when all my Christmas knitting has been finished, but I've been using my spinning time as my meditation in the mornings lately.  Well, this hasn’t gotten much love either - I’ve been spinning for a few minutes here and there when I need a break from my knitting :)

Sewing/Wardrobe

1. Update my casual wardrobe for fall/winter

• go through my closet and toss/donate old, dated/aged or unworn items
• make a list of "holes" that need to be filled
• start sewing these holes
• I already know that one of them is a jean jacket
• another is casual pants
• and a hooded vest

Well, I’ll be honest with you - my sewing has taken a back seat this month.  I miss it, and will hopefully be getting back into it in November!  Knitting is a lot easier to take with you to a hotel room!  I'll also be honest with myself in that I'm going to have to put this off until my Christmas crafting is done.
2.  Decide on a winter coat pattern and pull fabric and notions from the stash nope, same reason I haven’t gone through my casual wardrobe.  I am holding off on this one as well until my Christmas crafting is done as well.
3.  Make a dress for work/office wear, wool crepe I started this, and made my usual adjustments.  The front of the dress looks amazing, but the back, despite pinching out 3/4" for my swayback adjustment, still needs about another 1-1/2" pinched out.  I will rip out the zipper, and put in a "faux seam" at the back (basically sewing in a horizontal dart) and re-insert the zipper. Since this is a sleeveless dress and since my plate is a bit full with Christmas sewing, this will wait until my Christmas sewing is done.
4.  Make a pair of trousers for work/office wear, wool suiting yes!  I made a pair of a navy blue tropical wool trousers.  More details to follow in another post.

I didn't write this goal down, but I had it in the back of my mind as Halloween approached.  I made a costume for my grandson - I didn't make any promises as I wasn't sure how things would go, but when I was in the Fabricland in Ottawa, I formulated a plan and got the things I needed to make this:

What does the fox say?
Happy Halloween!

Cutest fox EVAH!!

Reading

1. Finish reading The Highland Witch by Susan Fletcher. This is a historical fiction novel about a woman in Scotland in the late 1600s.  It is completely opposite of the saccharine book I read last month.  I'm finding it well written, very engaging and I'm totally absorbed into the story.  I highly recommend it so far!  You can find it here: The Highland Witch at Amazon.ca. 
You guys!!! I LOVED this book.  I was sad when I finished it, in part due to the story/plot line but mostly because I wanted to keep reading it!
2.  Finish reading Knight's Cross by Christine Kling, the third book in The Shipwreck Adventures trilogy I've enjoyed this series as well, easy to read yet enough believable plot twists to keep me interested I haven't finished reading this one yet, but I have picked it up again.
3.  Chose the next fiction book to read. I am reading Darkness Falls by Frank Tallis - the 5th (?) in a series of murder mysteries set in the early 1900s in Austria.  This is a great series, and an easy and intriguing read - I've been reading this before bed each night.

November Goals

My goals for November are primary Christmas focused.  I think it is so special to give something that has been hand-crafted specifically with the recipient in mind.

Knitting
1.  Finish Christmas socks for Steve & Sara

2.  Start and finish a Christmas sweater for Deklan (my cutie patootie grandson who will be celebrating his first Christmas this year)

3.  Finish heels in the remaining three pairs of socks

Sewing
1.  Order fabric for the family Christmas flannel pants (I'm cheating a bit on this one, because I actually did this yesterday).  Did you know you can order online from Fabricland (my local chain fabric store)?  It's actually their head office in Quebec, but shipping is super cheap and no worries about exchange rates or customs fees for us Canadians!  I can justify ordering online because not many places have 15 meters of the same flannelette available!

2.  Sew said family Christmas flannel pants (I have five adults and one baby to sew these for).  I usually use a production line style of sewing for these so it doesn't take more than an evening for one or two pairs.

3.  Choose dress pattern for Christmas work party dress, and pull fabric from the stash.  

4.  Make a list of Christmas events that I will be attending, and figure out what I'm wearing (note to self:  be realistic here with what you can actually sew for these events!)

5.  Make one Blackwood cardigan

6.  Make one Toaster sweater I'm justifying to myself that I need these last two to stay warm in this weather and I'm missing a few colours to go with my current wardrobe.  Also, I've just watched a pile of YouTube videos this morning where people have made Toaster sweaters and they look so warm and cozy!

And, in the interest of being completely honest, I bought a pile of fabric at the Ottawa Fabricland (despite being a chain store, each Fabricland seems to have slightly different stock, so I always make a point of checking out the stores when I travel if I have time) that I really want to incorporate into my fall/winter wardrobe.  I have pre-treated some sweater knits, and I have a gorgeous faux textured suede fabric in burgundy that is waiting to be turned into a jacket.  Maybe while I'm waiting for the flannelette to arrive??  this is more of a dream than a goal, but I figured I'd put it in here anyways :)

Reading

1.  Finish Darkness Falls by Frank Tallis

2.  Finish Knight's Crossing by Christine Kling

3.  Choose next fiction book (probably the next Louise Penny book in her series I've been reading - I bought the Kindle version of this a while ago and really want to get back into this series)

4.  Continue reading Crucial Conversations 

Well, it's a dark, dreary, damp and drizzly Sunday morning here, but after taking a full rest day yesterday, I'm ready to go - energized (sort of) and dreaming of sewing projects, so I'm heading down to L'atelier Tonia for some sewing!!

What are you sewing/crafting for Christmas?