August 21, 2007

Divide and conquer

I was sorting through the knitting basket this morning - which, I should point out, is a metaphorical basket, not a literal, actual basket. Firstly, it wouldn't all fit in one basket (at least no basket that wouldn't take up too much indoor real estate) and secondly, I don't like it all staring at me from one place. I find it overwhelming. All that unfinished knitting glaring at me from a basket, me dreadfully outnumbered....no siree. Divide and conquer. I face 'em down one at a time, and that means I stash them all over.

The other advantage to this disseminated stashing is that it is rather easy to pretend that you don't have that much on the go....so you can start something else, which is what I was trying to do this morning when I thought maybe a reality check was in order. Therefore, I give you the current big contenders. (Naturally, this list does not include all works in progress. Just the stuff sort of on the radar. )

The Mystery Stole:

Ms3Progn2108

Status: Desperately behind. After learning the hard way that the beads make this a very un-portable project (I got sick of spilling beads on planes, in cars, at my mothers, in my purse) I finally realized that this should be my "sit down and concentrate" work. Since I have not sat down and concentrated since...well. I've got to get back to this.
General feeling: I still love it, and I'm really enjoying the Baruffa Cashwool, and I'm still thrilled to death with the concept of a mystery project. I'm not sure how much I like having "deadlines" and feeling "behind". The clues keep coming out and I keep falling further off the curve. I know it's self imposed anxiety, but it's there nonetheless. I just have to find a well- lit, quiet place to work on this where I don't keep throwing hundreds of beads onto the floor. (I realize that considering that most of my knitting time is on the subway, or while teen wrangling, my odds are not good.)

Socks for Joe:

Joesnewds2108

Status: Mid-first sock, I'm sort of stalled. I was chugging along and then lost focus for a minute and knit the Solstice Slip ones and now this pair is just lying there.
General feeling: The yarn, while perfectly good- is not thrilling, and despite having whacked a little cable in there to keep me awake, I'm pretty bored. Grey socks. Big grey socks. I was knitting them now because Joe really, really needs me to make an investment in his dress sock collection (he's walking big holes in his others) and because he will only wear these dull colours, and because Denny keeps reminding me that you can't knit these dull colours in March or you won't have any will to live at all... I should finish them. Seriously.

Socks for me:

Wollmsock2108

Status: One down, one to go. This sock has been my "shove a plain sock in your purse" knitting for the last week or so. It's my plain sock recipe from here, with no bells and no whistles. It's perfect no-brain knitting.
General feeling: I LOVE it. I love it so much that I want to marry it. The yarn is Wollmeise, though mine came from here. (There's none there now. You'll have to lurk around. Wollmeise is another of the Artisanal handpaints on the market, and as with anything made by one person, it is very hard for that one person to supply ALL of us, especially since many of us are wool-pigs. This can be frustrating, especially when you discover, like me, that this yarn is your new best friend and you just want to hug it and kiss it and call it George.)

Adamas

Adamasback2108

Status: About half done. I started up with this shawl ages ago and can't remember what distracted me. (I just checked my own archives. Apparently what distracted me from this fabulous Miriam Felton pattern was another fabulous Miriam Felton pattern. Makes sense now.)
General feeling: I'm charmed by it again. The pattern is sensible and intuitive, and it doesn't take long at all to memorize. Between the wooden circular needles and such, it makes it good travel knitting.

The Kauni Cardigan

Kaunialmostd2108

Status: All finished, but for button and neck bands. It needs the front steek sewn and cut, but my sewing machine is currently unresponsive. I need to ask Ken to toss a couple of rows of zig-zag in there for me. He's been on holiday, but I got him from the airport last night so I should be able to ask him to do my bidding now. I'd hand sew the thing, but I'm too lazy.
General feeling: What's not to love? (Well. The fact that it's so close but so far.....)

Joe's Gansey.

Joesganseys2108

Status: Needs sleeves and a good attitude.
General feeling: Overwhelmed. This project has taken so long (though I must say, it does move more quickly when I actually knit on it) and I still think that I'm probably going to fall short on handspun. There's more fleece in the cellar, but it's unwashed and I just shudder when I think of starting that whole mess up again. In addition to that, it's got to be too big to be really portable, so it can only get home time, and I'm not home that much. Still, my love is eternal, so I suppose that considering that it was to be a wedding present and we're cruising up to our first anniversary, I should really, really just suck it up and finish. (On the other hand, we've been together so long that Joe can't really expect me to be on time with a sweater....right?)

There. These are the projects staring me down at present. (Except for the ones I'm ignoring or neglecting. I'm sure one of you is going to point out something lovely I have stuck somewhere and completely forgotten.) I need to pick priorities, start moving through the queue and at all costs, avoid starting Anne's bee shawl or a new cardigan or a new pair of socks something new if I ever hope to see the end of anything, because I do want to finish at least these things. Soon.
Suggestions?

PS. I updated the tour page with some details about some of the events in September, and the details for the Aurora event tonight is there too.

Posted by Stephanie at August 21, 2007 12:53 PM