For some intrepid people, November is the month when they take part in NaNoWriMo. Not me. (Though one year I might give it a go.)
Instead, I take part in something called NaNoSweMo. Instead of trying to write a 50,000 word novel in the month of November, some of us try to knit a 50,000 stitch sweater instead. There’s a group on Ravelry specially set up for NaKniSweMo, with prizes available for those who achieve the feat of completing their project in the month of November.
I’ve done it in several previous years, making my Petals In Ice, an O w l s and a Braid Hills. (Though I didn’t try to formally enter the O w l s as it’s nowhere near the 50k stitch count.) The observant amongst you will have noticed that three of those patterns are written by the wonderful Kate Davies, who is one of my favourite designers. She creates some wonderfully wearable designs, that are steeped in textile history and her native Scotland.
This year’s NaKniSweMo will be another of her gorgeous patterns.
Epistrophy is a fitted cardigan with a colourwork yoke. It’s knitted in the round and steeked, in the traditional manner. For those of you who don’t know, steeking involves cutting your knitting (after reinforcing the area you’re intending to cut, of course). It enables you to knit colourwork designs such as fair isle in the round. This is normally easier, as it means you can work colourwork on knit rounds, rather than having to do it while purling back across a flat row. But colourwork and steeking is going to be quite a challenge to complete in just a single month.
The yarn I’m using is Sublime Extra Fine Merino Wool DK. The main colour will be the purple shown in the picture, with the colourwork yoke in white. Ravelry tells me that I bought the purple yarn over five years ago in Abakhan during a weekend away on Chester. So it’s about time I got round to using it!
After day 1, I’ve finished the rib on the body, and I’ve started the stocking stitch section. I’ve nearly finished the first 50g ball of yarn, so I’m well ahead of schedule. I’ll post a few updates on progress as I go.
Wish me luck!
Astounding Yarns 
You count stitches and I’ll count words and together we’ll be winners this November – Good Luck!
And to you too! I think I have the easier job though …
How do you work out how many stitches will be in a particular pattern to know if it’s suitable?
You’ve piqued my interest, so I’m just off to calculate how many stitches are in a pair of socks and that might give me an idea of how many stitches I normally knit in a month.
Oh and Abakhan … it’s many years since I’ve been there… sigh
I only do rough guesstimates. I just multiply numbers of stitches and rows and add or subtract a rough number for the increases and decreases. I break a sweater schematic down into rectangles and triangles and use a bit of geometry. I must do a blog post on that one, actually. I think my Braid Hills (DK weight, 38″ bust, but quite a scooped neckline) came in at about 55k stitches.
Some people go to extraordinary lengths to get an exact figure. There’s a whole thread on Rav just about the spreadsheets people have set up to do the calculations. See here: http://www.ravelry.com/discuss/nakniswemo-kal/3304735/
I reckon there’s about 18,500 in a pair of socks, so three pairs of socks in a month and I’d be there! I could do that… it takes me about a week to do a pair. Hmm… now I’m wondering how many crochet stitches I do in a week…. I’ll take a look at the link later because I really think I could get quite obsessed with this!
It’s definitely possible. I’ve managed NaKniSweMo several times while working full time. You just need a simple pattern and to make sure you knit in every moment you can. I can get quite a bit done on the commute.