I dug into my closet
I dug into my closet and finalized my projects list:
Red dot list:
Chenille blanket (only about 1/4 of it left)
Moss-stitch scarf (only finishing left), my hat (rip out crown and redo)
1824 sweater (block and sew up)
Socka socks (kitchner one toe and knit other sock)
Purple Soft-N-Seamless sweater (finishing)
Green dot list:
Red doggie sweater (1/4 left)
Neck piece (redo)
WE sweater (only front is done)
AV sweater (redo)
Blue dot list:
Matt's Mom's blanket (barely started)
Mohair blanket (barely started)
Toe-up socks (not started)
I am officially scared of this list. However, Some of those red dot list items are SO CLOSE to being done that I'll be able to knock them off FAST, as long as I avoid starting more stuff! Which should be the goal, really. =)
I got the Vicky Secret's
I got the Vicky Secret's catalog, and there is a GREAT sweater in there! It's called a "cable sweater" and it's on sale for $59. Description reads "chunky handknit cable sweater; funnel neck, slight bell sleeves and think n thin trim." I wonder who handknit it? Prolly some poor slave in Peru. Anyway, I like the sweater, and I want to make it! Who knows of a pattern??? For those of you with the latests catalog, it's on page 6 a tthe top. TIA!
Oh yeah, I forgot. I
Oh yeah, I forgot. I have decided that I need to get some of these UFO's done and finished. So I am going to try doing the whole Joan's Wacky Dot System thingie. Not that I'm going to bother buying colored dots, I have perfectly good markers that can make very decent dots, thank-you-very-much. So yeah, here's my preliminary list, these are off the top of my head:
Red Dot list:
Block & sew up the 1824 sweater
Redo the AV sweater into a cardigan
Woolease sweater
Blue socka socks
Green Dot List:
The neck piece thingie (needs to be redone)
My hat & scarf set
The mohair blanket
Matt's Mom's blanket
I'm not bothering with a blue dot list, b/c I know I'm not gonna get this other stuff finished anytime soon, anyway. When I need another project to put on this list, I'll go digging. =) It's good to have a closet almost devoted to your yarn stash and UFOs, at least you know where to look to find those projects you'd forgotten about. heheh
My short-term goal is to finish the first two sweaters, because they are *SO CLOSE* to being done, it's painful. I mean in total time, it's not that bad; I started the first one in August, and the second one in September, and the knitting has been done for both of them since, um, November? But the AV sweater is way too hot, and I am going to make it into a cardigan. The planning is done, but actually ripping it out keeps getting delayed since it's so damn depressing! The 1824 sweater got finished, but it is in severe need of blocking before sewing up, and having never blocked anything, AND being lazy, have shoved it away instead of finishing it. If I can wear it before winter's over, I'll be happy.
The WE sweater's got the back done and that's it. This started as a whim during the summer, but who wants to work on wool/acrylic sweaters in the summer? So when the back was finished, I cast off and used the size 8 circ for something else. Never got back to it, and it's been long enough. It's the easiest possible pattern, I can probably whip it out in a few weeks if I just decide to do it. And I'm just about to that point now.
If the above short-term goals are met, I am allowed a trip to the LYS. Once there, I am allowed to buy yarn for one project, as long as it's not another sweater or another pair of socks. Preferred project category is a turtleneck shell suitable for under a business suit. We'll see how this restraint holds up.
LONG term goal (well, to May): Finish up most of this stuff so that I can give it away or put it away, so when I pack to move, I wont' have to pack so much yarn and tangles, I can pack finished stuff! It is much easier to pack a sweater than to pack a needle with 30" of knitting on it. So yeah. Good luck to me! And my wrist better stop hurting.
So even though the hat
So even though the hat doesn't fit, I decided to make a scarf out of the rest of the yarn. I've settled on moss stitch over 22 sts on size 10 needles. This is a much narrower scarf than my usual, so I will probably get more wear out of it. ;o) Besides, where's the fun in making the same thing repeatedly? There's only so much fun you can have with a scarf, might as well vary it up a bit. My wrist has been bothering me lately, will be wearing my brace to work so I can get some time in on it.
On Wednesday I was inpired to knit by discovering that one of the girls I know in my FIN classes knits! She wears a different scarf every day practically, and I commented on it, and she said, "yeah I get bored so I make them!" So we had a nice discussion about crafty people in college, turns out she knows tons of them. I'm so excited! It figures, though, that in January of my last semester here I would meet someone else who knits/crafts, after trying for so freakin' long. Sigh.
Oh yeah! Found out about another knitting blog, and this time through the Knitlist (hum, wonder why no one replied when I put out a call for knit blogs?). Check out the Blog at Yarnaholic Confessions, Use it or. . .
I needed a hat and
I needed a hat and had some great 100% wool (Thanks again Alison H!), so I -- guess what? Made myself a hat! I used chunky wool, size 10 needles, cast on 66 sts and work k1p1 rib for 3 rows, then work st st for about 6 inches, then start decreasing. Now we all know my little problem with making hats, they are always too shallow, right? Well this time, I was determined to NOT have this problem, so I kept going past my normal quitting time. SO what do we have when I try it on??? TOO DEEP! It's impossible, impossible I tell you, to make a perfect fitting hat! Of course when I make hats for OTHER people, even when they're winged patterns (as they usually are), they tend to work. But if I try to make myself one. . . no such luck. Do my hands know that the product is for me??? Is this some perverse way to feel guilty about doing something for myself instead of to give away or sell, subconsciously making me not ever want to make myself anything ever again? Or do I just pay less attention when it's for me, because I am the only one who will be dissapointed if it sucks? I don't know, I don't know. I do know this is depressing. Will try to get it scanned to show off, it is still nice, if only I had a really big head. Sigh.
