Wrapping up some knitting news

Ok - I've got to take a quick minute here to wrap up some knitting news.

Liv has turned out to be a very stubborn girl. She and I are not getting along very well. I don't really understand our inability to connect since I powered through the Ragna cap without even the slightest problem. With Liv - different story. :( I knit the back up to the start of the armhole decreasing and then decided to add an inch and a half in the length. Liv is only 14 1/2 inches to the armhole in a medium & I usually like my shirts a bit longer than that. So, I measured a favorite shirt to the armhole & got 16 inches. I knit the extra length up & then realized that I probably should added the extra length in the right place - ie. before the increasing and decreasing shaping on the waist area. My newly added inch and a half was going to throw the proportions off and make the shirt bag in weird places. So the back has to be ripped back to almost the beginning - all but about 3" worth. :( Feeling a bit frustrated but not yet defeated I decided to start the front to give myself a mental boost before I faced all of that ripping. I thought I would work the front up past the Celtic cables and then I would have smooth sailing with just bunches of reverse stockinette stitch left to knit. Well, somehow between knitting the Ragna cap & the cables for Liv I must have blown a head gasket because I just can't get this chart right. I tried three times & it never looked right. So now Liv is sitting in a bag waiting to be a project for the next knitting class I take.

Also, Nanowrimo starts in two days which means very scare knitting time ahead for the next month. (I will be trying to post a bit on the blog but it may be pretty sparse!) In the meantime I took a look at my WIP's and decided that I didn't have anything going that was brainless enough to be my "escape/relaxation" knitting for Nanowrimo month. I had thought I was going to have all of that reverse stockinette ready to go on Liv.... So I rummaged through my stash & pulled out two projects I already have all of the yarn for.

The first one is the Ribbed Coat with Sailor's Collar from Debbie Bliss Book Six. I am knitting it out of Cascade 220 Tweed in a pretty purple color.

The second project is Gust from the Rowan Plaid Collection which is being knitted in Plaid Driftwood.
I swatched and cast on for both of them over the weekend so I am good to go. I really love working with both of those yarns too so I think my knitting will be my happy place during my Nano month. :)

I also got my toys booklet from Jess Hutchison. Super speedy shipping and really cute critters. I especially like the pillow guy and the robot. Both of those may become stash busters in the future. :)

Wish me luck with Nanowrimo. I think it is going to be fun......I hope!