January 18, 2008

Cleaning house

I don’t have a home computer at the moment, so blogging will be [even more] infrequent for the foreseeable future.

Also, I haven’t really been knitting. No knitting + no computer = crap blogging. Apologies in advance. Thank goodness, then, that I do have a teeming mass of old projects to blog about.

This is what my WIP pile looked like last weekend.

2007WIPS1

I tend to tuck my WIPs away in different places, as it’s a little depressing to see them all together. Also, I fear they’ll begin comparing notes and eventually find common ground in their unloved, unknit state and unite against me.

They say “admitting you have a problem” is always the first step, so I decided to risk it. I did need to fortify myself with Koolaid-dyeing (more on that in another post), cheap beer and the excellent company of my friend Kelley, but I was able to make some hard decisions.

First, the chaff:

2007Losers

1. Koolaid-dyed Jaywalker: Demonstrating at least some ability to learn from previous mistakes, I planned to knit Jaywalker 2.0 with some modifications (bigger needles, heavier yarn, etc). I was almost through the heel flap and thought it was coming along nicely until I reality-checked the size. My reality checker is named Megan and yes, the damned thing fit her just fine. And yes, she already has a pair of teeny Jaywalkers. I dyed this yarn especially with Jaywalkers for me in mind, so I’ll be reknitting in a size large and maybe on yet bigger needles. And yes, frogging this one hurt.

2. 2 x 2 rib scarf in chunky red/pink yarn: too narrow, too-small needles, too much ribbing, bleck. I believe I cast on knowing all of these things but just wanted something mindless to knit one night. I hadn’t looked at it or touched it since that night.

3. Eesti Trail Hiking Socks for TB: couldn’t figure out the main colorwork pattern, even after I found the errata. Also? Beige.

4. Lace-Resistant socks – originally Waving Lace, then Go with the Flow, both of which turned out like complete ass. I was forced to admit that this yarn just doesn’t want to be socks, so it’s been sent back to the stash basket where it can look on enviously as I make socks out of its friends. That’ll teach it.

5. Basic Sock in blue Austermann Step: handed off partially knit to a fellow sock knitter with an Austermann Step fetish who can frog it or continue knitting the sock as she sees fit.

6. Two inches of another Basic Sock in Trekking

7. Yet another Basic Sock, experimentally and loathingly knit with two circs and with magic loop. It is now clear that I am now, and likely always will be, a DPN girl.

8. Wicked: finally, finally frogged, ruthlessly and in full. Word.

And the wheat:

2007Winners

1. Trekking socks

2. Irish Hiking Scarf (not pictured) – barely, as I think it should really be knit on bigger needles for a less dense fabric, but it will be pretty and wearable and warm, if not the most perfectly perfect scarf of my dreams.

3. Callisto shawl: I was so excited about this pattern that it was like a rock star joined our little group when the designer showed up at SNB. So WHY AREN’T I KNITTING IT? Could it be that it is a) not socks, b) not mindless and c) not socks? It does have a huge advantage over the Irish Hiking Scarf which is that it’s also not ribbing, so I’m guessing this one will be back in the rotation soon.

4. Double Secret Gift Knitting, a Tragedy in Two Parts (also not pictured) – It would have been hugely easier if I just followed a pattern for either of these items, but I decided I would make something up instead. It has not gone well. I have stubbornly knit, frogged, reknit, part-frogged and reknit one half of this gift (I think it’s finally right, or at least I no longer care), and am reknitting the other part. Again. The recipient has yet to receive an on-time handknit from me, so at least I’m not in a huge rush.

5. Does swatching count as a WIP? I still haven't given up on my beloved Tangled Yoke Cardigan, and both my row and stitch gauge are bang-on.

6. A legwarmer. Move right along. Nothing to see here.

Whew – that was a lot of frogging! But it’s such a relief to have the WIPs down to a manageable level.

I’d like to finish all of these projects before starting something else, but there’s a whole lot of tasty stash begging for attention.

And one more WIP can’t hurt, right?

4 comments:

Anonymous said...

Wow! What a list! Good luck with all these WIPs. I've moved my blog to wordpress, you can now find me at http://knittinginpink.wordpress.com

Olga said...

Word! LOL! I don't see how all that chaff is in that one picture...you must be holding out.

Olga said...

Oh, and I'm totally with you on that DPN thing.

Anonymous said...

Wow, that's a lot of WIPs! I made myself an ironclad rule that I can only have one project going at a time. Just one. That's both knitting AND spinning, to my dismay, because I can only use my hands on one thing at a time... It's not easy, but it does keep me finishing projects much more rapidly than if I alternated between multiple WIPs.