I knit a lot as you can tell. I really like knitting full garments. I'm fairly fast being a continental knitter but as Brenda (in the comments) mentioned we had tried to get into a Stephanie Pearl Mcphee class called 'Efficient and Speedy Knitting'. A tip or two never hurts. Here's a video of Stephanie doing her stuff.
Lever Knitting

What boggled my mind is that she is using a different finger to guide the yarn. Check it again to see. I tried this one whole weekend on a pair of socks but I'm not an English style knitter and am not ready to switch. It makes me look at my knitting differently though. What if I changed the finger that guides the yarn, would that make purling faster? Food for thought.

Purple seems to be the colour of the moment.

Finished the knitting but there is all that tidying up still to do. Purple colour of KnitEast wool by Fleece Artist.

And this yoke is awaiting further design decisions. It's the Plum colour of Regal by Briggs and Little.

A slight departure from the purple theme into Cranberry by Cascade220 for the Braids KAL.
But now I'm departing the purple realm entirely to go green.

It's Tadpole Naturally Nazareth by Kraemer Yarns and is more yellow than this photo shows. Anyway, green for the next one.

What colours are catching your knitting eye these days?
Deb

I'm knitting sleeves and more sleeves.

Good knitting, round and round, calming, progressive and has to be done right? I'm deciding what to do with the rest of the sweater. Lots of options after working the plainish yoke: patterned cuffs, patterned front bands, A-lined body with some vertical patterning? So many options, so many decisions. Part of the fun.
Deb

And now to get going on our own Cabin Fever Retreat, only 7 more sleeps. I'm writing up class notes. First we have to measure.

I'm working through a lot of literature with different opinions on this vital subject. What to measure and how to use it has become a hot topic as more knitters want a sweater that really fits. It's still a trial and error operation to figure out what you need for a well fitting sweater.

And some of it is personal preference. What is your major shaping challenge for shaping a sweater?

I'm really short and mostly have that figured out. Now I want to get the added hip shaping just right. I want some shaping to avoid that upside down Vgap in my cardigans. I don't like my sweaters tight so I tend to add too much especially when I knit a hip length sweater. On a long, below the butt cardigan there is much more room (ha, ha) to get close enough.
-Deb

I was retreating over the weekend.

It was lovely. There were lots of knitters cabling with Fiona Ellis and the next day we were picking up around the armhole with MaryPat. There was great food and a swim in the indoor pool. I roomed with Diane of Georgetown Yarns and had a visit with Elizabeth (who was knitting those very mittletts which are on her blog). Debbie of SheepsAhoy runs this great retreat and I wanted to send her a big thank you.

And that means the next event is our own Cabin Fever Knitting Retreat. It's coming up on Nov.18, soon, very soon. Have you been on a retreat? What did you especially love about it? Yes, I'm looking for ideas to make this retreat lots of fun.
-Deb

Success.
I should know better. I don't know many times I say that to myself! Once I change my mind about how I'm going to do something I should NOT try to jimmy what I started with. I should take a deep breath, rip out and begin again fresh (maybe the next day). Note to self.

What do you do when your knitting mojo has taken the bus out of town?
-Deb