Two Paths Diverged

I have two knitting roads I can choose right now.

 One is the more prudent path. It says “Wow you have a lot of stuff on the needles. The best thing to do right now would be to focus on what’s already been started and finish that off. You’ll feel better and you’ll have actual knitted objects to wear.”

The voice on my other shoulder is something more to the effect of…..

 ”MOAR! MOAR PROJEKS! MOAR SOCK YARNZ! MOAR!”

It’s been very hard to choose, but I’m kind of striking a balance. I actually have two new FOs: The My So Called Scarf that took much too long to finish off and the Back to School U-Neck.

The thing is, I liked making this scarf a lot. It’s just that….well…It’s a scarf. A scarf in one stitch pattern forever and ever amen until you run out of yarn or patience. But this was Malabrigo. Sweet, sweet Malabrigo. And the stitch pattern makes a beautiful, thick scarf that look really sharp.

And the sweater-vest. Wow. Am I ever surprised with this one. It was another one of those projects where I was like ‘man this is gonna look dumb and probably won’t fit it seems so big on top…’

It fits great. It looks even cuter in person than it does in the photo. It really is nice to finish things. I ought to keep this up.

As for the “MOAR!” screaming in my brain, it’s partly spurred on by how gorgeous my new sock yarn is.

Look at that! It’s even better looking in person than it is on dyer’s Etsy! I wanted to cast something on with it right away, but my sock-fu is apparently not at its best. I tried on the Waving Lace Socks last night and found that they didn’t fit at all. I seem to just have really bad luck with Lorna’s Laces. I didn’t want to be discouraged, though, so I cast on some Monkeys. Good ol’ Monkey. There’s a reason everyone on the internet seems to have made a pair. Intuitive stitch pattern that makes great use of really variegated yarns. The colorway is still very My Little Pony, but it’s all good. I’m looking forward to these…

Also going to give in to my inner moarCat and pick up some more size 2 DNPs (my magic needle for sock gauge, it seems). I’ve got more sock yarn coming from the Potter’s Covers Sock Club…can’t just leave that sitting around…and nothing says I can’t have more than one pair of socks going at once….

Just leave me to my rationalizations or I’ll send ceilingCat after you. And he doesn’t play around.

Busy Busy

Man. I’ve been doing a LOT of knitting.

Work has been pretty stressful lately, so when I get home at the end of the day, all I really want to do is make a cup of tea, watch my dumb TV shows, and knit till my fingers ache (that’s what the glucosamine tablets are for). For some reason I find police chase shows and Mythbusters to be very conducive to covering distance on full garment projects.

The thing is I love all of the projects I’m working on right now, so it’s making it really hard to stick with one long enough to get real progress made. The Baby Surprise Jacket is doing just fine (it’s a *really* simple pattern and nowhere near as pink as it looks in the photo), but now I’m in a bit of a jam. I just got my Amazon shipment and now I’ve got too many new ideas in my head. The mother of the Baby Surprise’s future owner *actually* has some idea of what goes in to knitting and how tricky certain patterns can be, so I know she can appreciate a more complex gift. That said, I really really really want to make the February Baby Sweater from Knitter’s Almanac for the little girl. It’s *so* cute…Maybe I can justify it because (a) the BSJ is *sooooo* much less complicated than Trellis, (b) I can make it as a size up from what the BSJ would cover and (c) I’m gonna have a ton of the Pure Merino left over.

Speaking of Baby Knitting, Trellis went off to it’s intended recipient this past weekend when my mother went to a small family get together. I couldn’t give it to the boy in person since I was sick and therefore skipped the family event, but I hear it was a big hit along the lines of “Oh my God, she *made* this!?” That feels good to hear.I’m also happy to say that  I’m finally over my sizing bitterness and have some good feelings about that little sweater. I think putting buttons on it helped.

And I’m already up to the bust darts on the U-Neck Vest. It’s been awhile since I just did something in plain ‘ol worsted weight wool. And it’s such a pleasing purple! I really really really want a sweater vest for some reason, too. I guess it’s my inner preppie trying to get out. I’m also starting to mock up plans for a sorta self-made sweater vest in this lovely red Rowan Felted Tweed that I’ve got to get a picture of one of these days. Also in that Amazon shipment were the first two Barbara Walker Treasuries and there is a certain cable in the first one that I think will look great in this yarn.

Lastly, there are my babies: The Owl’s Flight socks.

 

I’ve got ZERO second sock syndrome on these. On the contrary, now all I want to do is make socks. Specifically these socks but since I’m nearing the end it looks like I’ll have to keep the little DPNs occupied with some of my other sock yarn. Since I’m on such a sock kick, I’m just gonna go ahead and throw myself in to the full Socktoberfest line of project planning. After the Owl’s Flight socks I think I’m gonna try some toe-ups. No time like the present to learn, right. Plus I think I’ll fancy up the cuff with something simple from one of the new stitch dictionaries. That’s right. I’ve got a Walker Treasury and I’m not afraid to use it!

Finally! Some progress!

About a week ago I went a little nuts with the starting. This morning I had no less than 5 WIPs that I was trying to spread my attention around on, but it just wasn’t working. Sometimes you just feel like you need to finish something, ya know?

So. I decided to pick something and see it to the finish this weekend. *Clearly* this was not feasable with the Clashtastic Log Cabin, which if I’m going to be honest has been getting most of my attention, so I went to the black sheep of my knitting bag: The former Two-Toned Shrug which was reduced by cutbacks to something more like a Two Skein Wonder.

I was really pessimistic about the pattern. If I wasn’t complaining that it wasn’t going to fit, I was whining that it was going to make me look like a linebacker. When I got to the ribbing around the body I turned in to an even bigger brat. I’ve been in a lousy mood lately and the boring yet not mindless-ness of 2×2 ribbing was driving me up a wall. I only did 14 rounds of ribbing as opposed to the more than 20 called for. I bound off grumbling, but still pretty pleased to have finished something. But clearly, it was going to have been a waste of time, I thought. Went upstairs to the full length mirror and took a look.

 I like it. I like it a lot. My shoulders look pretty normal, I still like the color, and it’s nice and warm, while still being right for this August weather. I like it so much that I feel bad skimping out on the ribbing around the body. It’d look even better with the full complement. Still burried under a heap of WIPs, but you sure do get a lift in mood finishing something, eh?

Air Force One

I think the only reason I ever get projects off the needles is that I eventually get frustrated by their lack of progress. Yes. I have had my mother’s crazy Protestant Work Ethic *so* drilled in to me that it ends up getting applied to my knitting. After about two weeks I’m like “You again!? What are you still doing in my knitting bag? I’ve about had it with you!” and then ends up taking a huge leap toward completion.

Such is the case with the Two-Toned Shrug from Fitted Knits. I’ve gotten to the point to where my Clashtastic Log Cabin is big enough that I can only knit one stripe before going in to a Garter Stitch Coma. After I finished last night’s I went through my knitting bag and found that there was still a shrug on my 8 circs. Oh no. This simply will not do. This needed to show some measure of visible progress.

Finished the Raglan Increases of Doom last night (picture is old) and I’m working on the sleeves now. I’m thinking I might actually skimp on this thing a little. I was originally going to use it as a stash buster for my three Khaki Cascade 220 and at least one of the three undyed Cascade 220 hanks I’ve got sitting around the bottom of my basket but…I’ve kinda changed my mind now.

I don’t mind using one and a bit of the khaki to make the shrug, but now I’ve got other plans for it. Specifically, a self designed hat that will probably make me hate life but I still want to try it anyway. As for the undyed stuff, not only am I thinking that I probably won’t like it as a big contrasting ribbed color on the shrug, I’m also interested in trying Kool-Aid dying. My parents won’t even freak out over me using one of the cooking pots either since they really need to get thrown out anyway.

So new plan for the shrug is that it’s gonna be all one color with shorter sleeves and less ribbing all around. Sounds good to me. And the sooner I get it off the needles the sooner I can go back to the Self Desigend Zip Up Hoodie of Many Froggings. I’ve literally ripped the thing out four times now and never gotten past the collar. Chalk it up to crushing self doubt.

I want to get back to my hoodie because after all the hats and mitts and sock I’ve been doing lately, I want to make a sweater. After I see how the hoodie comes out I might want to try an Elizabeth Zimmerman style bottom up sweater. Can’t be too hard to add some waist shaping to those instructions, right?

re: the title: Whenever I think of the phrase “get off my needles” I hear Harrison Ford’s voice from the infamous Air Force One line “Get off my plane.” My brain works in weird ways, okay

Decisions Decisions

It was my birthday this past Sunday, and what better way to spend the day than blocking a sweater! Call me crazy but I love the smell of wet wool. (I did do other stuff too, I swear. Not a total nerd )

This is my roundabout way of saying that the Puff Sleeve Feminine Cardigan is done. I absolutely love it.

This is the first thing I’ve made where my mother was really wowed. She thought I was just messing around with this stuff, but suprisingly I don’t suck! I even managed to get the buttons sewn on straight. And my seams are, as usual, “teh awesome”. Top down raglan means there were only two seems to sew, but they came out real nice.

Last time I talked about the Rowan Pure Wool DK I made this in, I had just taken a nice big swig of Haterade. I’m still bitter about all the poofs and messed up plys and knots…but now that it’s been blocked the wool is so super soft and light. I would also classify it as the smoothest wool I’ve worked with. Way to prove me wrong, Rowan. Next up from the Fitted Knits book is the Two Tone Shrug in some stashed Cascade 220.

In the meantime, I’m still working on that second Jaywalker. Finally finished the foot decreases, but now I need another project to work on next to the sock because God forbid I have only one project going. Enter Shedir.

I have loved this hat for ages and finally decided to give it a try. I love to cable, so it’s been really fun so far, and the wool I’m using is working even better than expected. I threw a couple skeins of Swish Superwash in to my last order so I’d have enough to get the free shipping and pretty much just got lucky that it works for this hat. Otherwise it probably would have sat in my stash forever. Oh. And see that stitch marker? I made that

Lastly, I picked up a new knitting book as a little birthday gift to myself: Mason-Dixon Knitting. I really like it! In addition to having great ideas about the usefulness of garter stitch, there’s a really cool dishcloth pattern that will help me up the two things of Sugar and Cream I’ve had stashed for like a year.