Bits and Pieces

I am so sick of being sick. On top of still recovering from the latest round of ugh at the hospital in December, I now have a sniffly, snotty head-cold, just to put the icing on the cake. I hate colds, they are miserable and make you feel like a boiled owl, and at the same time they are so trivial that you can't really justify taking time away from work to baby yourself through them. At any rate, as a consequence of all this ongoing illness, plus the fact I start teaching this week, I have yet to finish making anything at all this month and so all I have to report so far are various Bits And Pieces.

1. Knitting Work In Progress: I am knitting a pair of socks! I can't say it's going well, but I have something that is ALMOST recognizably a sock and will only need another few sessions of work before it's finished. Then I have to make another, of course, which is the great trial of making socks.

2. Knitting Plans: I am going to revert to the Purple Jumper Of Doom once the socks are done, just so it's DONE, but then I think I might make a wrap or a shawl of some description.

3. Sewing Work In Progress: I have embroidered -- using one of the the sashiko patterns I tested previously -- the pieces of a small silk pouch and it is all ready to sew. It's also pretty much a test object so it will be interesting to see how it turns out in the end. The actual making of the pouch will take no time at all, from experience, I just need to find an hour or so to do it.

4. Things I have planned: The big wardrobe gap I have that I wanted to address this month is long-sleeved knit tops suitable for work. I have a couple of nice (stash) fabrics to use, but I am going back and forth between using Ottobre 05-2010-01, of which I made a too-large version that I use as a PJ top a year ago and a long sleeved top in Ottobre 05-2013 that I would have to start from scratch, the green one in this picture. I feel like there is less that could go wrong re-making the first top, although with my recent change in size I'll have to trace out whichever of the two I pick.

5. I am excited for the new Ottobre (02-2014) already, even though it's not due out 'til February. They posted a photo from the new issue on Facebook last night and I REALLY want that short trenchcoat pattern for a project I have planned for later in the year.