Creativity check, early November 2017 + thoughts on 9" circulars

There's something about the cooler weather that makes me want to make things, even more than normal. Many people are "seasonal knitters," preferring to do most of their knitting in the cooler months. Iif you've read my blog for any amount of time, you know that I'll happily knit year-round, even in the Texas heat (although always in the A/C). But something about the leaves changing and the chill in the air at night makes getting cozy under a quilt and picking up a work-in-progress ever so more enjoyable.

So, here in the usual format, are the things I've been up to and planning for lately:

Knitting

Finished

• Glacier park cowl, which I blogged about here, and I love it so much. I'm actually wearing it with one of his sweatshirt (borrowed) as I type this and I'm so cozy.
• His navy socks, which I actually finished a few weeks ago, but I hadn't a chance to take some pictures of them. As soon as I wove in the ends, he put them on and wore them for the next few days, happy as all get out. (See more details below).

The fabric the yarn/needle combo created is very dense, but I think that will make these socks more durable. Also, even though I mostly enjoyed the process of knitting these, this project falls firmly into the "labor of love" category, since size 0 needles and a large men's size make for slow progress. I haven't blocked them yet, as I don't usually block vanilla socks until I've worn them once. But I am interested to see how the fabric behaves when it's washed.

Details:

Yarn: Sunsoaked yarns fingering weight in their 80/20 blend, in a tonal navy

Pattern: Late Night Socks, once again. This time, size large

Needles: US size 0, 9" circulars (recommended size is US 1.5)

Modifications: I made a shortie version, since I was worried about running out of yarn. This 80/20 is a plump yarn, so the yardage of one skein is about 400 yards, which isn't quite enough for a tall pair of men's socks (at least not if your husband's feet are size 11). I could have knit them a bit longer, as I have 21 grams of yarn leftover, but we didn't want them to be an awkward, in-between length.

Thoughts on 9" circulars: I really enjoyed them! My tension was very even and I love that you don't have to readjust your hands hardly at all, so you can just keep knitting without worrying about laddering. I think I would enjoy them more with a less "plump" yarn, say a 75/25 blend, or maybe if I used a larger sized needle with this yarn. With such a dense fabric and tiny needles, the yarn was prone to splitting. That said, I have another upcoming sock project and I promptly bought US size 3 9" circulars for that (to be knit with a sport weight yarn) so I'm eager to try it again.

In-progress

• Lovely gradient ribbed socks for my mom (for Christmas). This is the only Christmas knit that I'm not keeping a secret, since we decided on socks and picked out the yarn together when I was last in Minnesota. They are so fun! And so fast. I'm working on sock number two and I started the first one less than a week ago.
• My Mae sweater, which is essentially in that same spot it was, the last time I mentioned it. I want to work on this so much, but I plan on being a monogamous knitter until Christmas knits are done, as that is so much faster.

Future

• One more secret Christmas knit
• A classic ribbed hat for Nicholas in a grey fingering weight yarn. (This might be a birthday gift, since his is in January, but we'll see)
• Maybe a pair of Christmas socks?

Sewing

Finished

• Another zippered pouch, this time for my mother-in-law, for her birthday. :)

And honestly, that's all I've finished sewing-wise, since I've been focusing all my creative energy into Christmas knitting. But believe me, I've spent most evenings curled up on the couch under one of our handmade quilts and being especially thankful for past projects that keep us warm now.

Future

• A toaster sweater, in a really cozy, quilted, grey jersey (I already have the fabric and the paper pattern). I'm guessing this will be a really quick project, if I just sit down and work on it on a free afternoon
• A metamorphic dress, in olive/ivory (it's a reversible dress, guys!). I've been anticipating this pattern release for several weeks, and I just received the fabric I ordered for it.
• An ebony t-shirt and dress (tunic length) in a printed tree jersey, mentioned in this post. This would/will be so fun to wear on cozy winter days.

That's it for now! :)