This year has been incredibly strange and has flown by so fast – I can’t believe it’s already October!
While those who observe Halloween are getting ready to carve faces in pumpkins and consume unsafe amounts of chocolate, I’m limbering up for my annual sock knitting binge. In October I start to think about knitting gifts for Christmas presents. Usually, this involves six pairs of handknitted socks which I plan to start right away but rarely do.
Even though I’ve been working from home for over six months now, I feel like I have less knitting time than when I commuted ninety minutes each way to work. That ninety minute trip each way had a solid hour of knitting time built in, and I could turn out a pair of socks each week. Now, I have to go out of my way to make time to knit and I find I’m just not making as much time as I need.
The Plan Part One – Scheduling
Because I don’t have two hours of built in knitting time each day any more, I’ve decided to schedule my knitting hours instead. I still wake up at 5:30am every day, despite not having to start working in the home office until nine. This is partly due to decades of conditioning and partly because the cats think 5:30am is the best time to demand breakfast and wrestle each other under the bed until arrives.
So the first part of my plan is to make better use of that early morning time and get in a solid hour of knitting while I listen to podcasts and catch up on the news. I’ll squeeze in another hour at night when I watch some telly.
Part Two – Staying focused
I love plain socks knitted with fancy yarn, but after the second pair of stocking stitch socks I honestly get a bit bored. I’m guilty of knitting the same styles over and over, so this year I’m only using patterns that are new to me. This should keep things interesting and maintain the momentum after the second pair.
Part Three – Setting Deadlines
There are eleven knitting weeks until Christmas – twelve if you’re prepared to cast off and block on Christmas Eve. (Yes – I am absolutely prepared to do this!) That gives me just under two weeks to turn out each pair of socks. I’ve put reminders in the calendar on my phone to keep me on track.
Part Four – Knit from Stash
Stashbusting is a noble pursuit and it makes room for new yarn! I know I have enough yarn for at least four pairs of socks in my stash which naturally means I get to buy four new skeins from some of my favourite fellow dyers in the new year.
So that’s the plan. I’ll cast on the first pair this coming Monday and keep you up to date with my progress.
