Wow, I like to knit!

Last night, I remembered that I like to knit. Before you start assuming that I'm not the brightest crayon in the box, just bear with me.

I've been working on a GORGEOUS garment for Sandi, and I'm making good progress on it. However, it's Obligatory Knitting now, and it has a deadline. Whoosh! The slightest utterance that something has become Obligatory Knitting sucks the joy out of knitting like fire sucks air out of a room.

I could metaphorically suffocate in Obligatory Knitting. Thank heavens life isn't a metaphor.

(Or is it?)

While the OKSandi Sweater (OKSS for short) is truly lovely, it is not all-purpose knitting. While the pattern offers elegant simplicity, the piece has gotten too large to carry around, and the rows are staggeringly long. Are-we-there-yet long, even.

When I've finished two of the impossibly long rows (one pattern repeat), I measure the length. Nothing ever changes. It's Black Hole knitting. (This may be why I don't finish sweaters very often. Just maybe.)

Last night we had guests over to watch the election results. There was eating, drinking, and a good time was had by all. So, I worked on my second Mushroom Caps sock, which is knitting that is much better suited for just such an occasion.

I finished MOST of the foot. (Not pictured above, that's the first sock and the humble beginnings of the second sock.) The whole time, all I could think was how much I love knitting with handspun, and how delightfully short each round was. I started planning my next sock, even. (Given my exhausting work schedule, I haven't been planning much knitting, which is the first sign that I'm starting to lose my knitting mojo.)

Now I am hearing the siren song of some merino/seacell that is telling me it wants to be a pair of aran socks.

Once I finish these socks, of course. And the OKSS.

One if by land and three if by sea

If you read the Purlescence blog, you’ll see that I was swept into the Ariann knitalong. It was the allure of the Butter Peeps. I swear. A great pattern and great yarn are really a deadly combination.

I started working on it, and was thinking to myself, “You know, the ribbi cardi only needs a collar and it will be done. The yellow malabrigo sweater only needs sleeves, and the rugby sweater needs half sleeves. I could finish all three before the cruise.”

Madness, right? But totally manageable. I have short arms, and one of the malabrigo sleeves is already (around) elbow length. On a neck-down raglan, so the top ¼ of each sleeve is done. As an added bonus, I did some KILLER shaping on the Delicious Malabrigo sweater and the rugby sweater, so they’re very flattering.

Right?

Very flattering = finished faster. There is nothing like working on a garment that you know will make you look like a million dollars. Or gold bullion, in this case.

Almost a Cardi-carrying member

I’m torn.

The whole “knitting carrot” is failing in the face of more interesting knitting, but I’m trudging towards the Ribby Cardi finish line. Another hour of knitting, and both sleeves will be finished. If we watch a movie tonight, I think the collar and bands will also find themselves complete.

Despite what my Ravelry queue says, the next two projects on my list are “Muir” and “Large Rectangle with Center Diamond Pattern” (from Victorian Lace Today). I picked up some lace yarn at the show, and want to (a) write reviews of the yarns, and (b) knit these shawls.

It’s not the Cardi part of the Ribby Cardi; it’s the sleeves.

I thought I was being super-smart, and I was. In theory.

First, I got out my handy-dandy graph paper and charted out the sleeve cap so that my sleeve was certain to come out in pattern. (Yes, I know it’s ribbing. Yes, I know I have OCD about this stuff.) This is a necessity for me, since my sleeve caps don't need shortening, but the sleeves always do, and I don't like the guesswork of "shorten or lengthen here" before a shaped sleeve cap. Cap first, then work out the rest, I say.

Next, I cast on both sleeves at the same time. I knit the sleeve caps flat (from the top down) to where they hit the underarm. Then, I put them in the round. So now, we have two sleeves on two circs, top-down. This all adds up to a tangly mess if you’re not paying attention. Doubly so if (say) one of your balls decides to throw up everywhere. This project stays home, safely in a place where it won’t get jostled around.

So far, the sleeves have taken me a couple of evenings of knitting, and it looks like I’ll be able to finish the knitting tonight. This is real growth for me, since 90% of my sweaters get held up at the sleeves. It seems I have an aversion to knitting sleeves, but a need to wear them. I am a complicated woman.

Andrew is totally jazzed about Jasmin 2008- especially the finishing things list. As I was trying on my sleeves, he pointed out that I could blast through the Sweater Formerly Known As Zak’s (SFKAZ) in a week and have it completed, too. That would be two sweaters done in a month, he pointed out emphatically.

While that’s true, and Jasmin 2008 likes to finish things, she also wants to knit what she wants to knit. Especially after Stitches. Jasmin 2008 laid out all of her purchases on the dining room table, to inspire her. While I didn’t overbuy, and I certainly limited my purchases to only things that I LOVED, there is a lot of inspiration laying out there. Being beautiful. Tempting me to stray from finishing back to starting.

I think what is most tempting is that I’m not enjoying the sleeve process, which is as tedious as it is smart. I’ll admit that this will leave me the least amount of finishing, which I may dislike even more than knitting sleeves. So, again, smart. But tedious.

The SFKAZ isn’t half as tedious, because when I cast the sleeves on simultaneously (over eight years ago), I didn’t bother to do so in the round. Though I’m not looking forward to attaching sleeves to shoulders and doing the two long, cuff-to-armpit-to-sweater-bottom seams, this sweater has the potential of being an awesome kicking-around sweater. Lucky for me, the formerly intended recipient of this sweater wasn’t much bigger than I am now, and sleeves that aren’t finished are easily shortened.

Hopefully tomorrow you'll be reading about my latest lace shawl.

It's a Ribby Process

For a month or so, I’ve been in a knitting lull. I haven’t been knitting as much as I normally do, and I’ve been a little unenthusiastic about it as well. Everything I really wanted to work on was on hold because of something small.

Jasmin 2008 reappeared yesterday. She must have been on vacation this last week, but she’s back. I figured out how to knit the sleeves on my Ribby Cardi top-down, and I am nearly finished with BOTH sleeve caps.

This is simple, but the task makes me feel incredibly smart, and my sleeves always end up the right length. Having short arms means less knitting, but more thinking. It’s a trade-off.

I like to knit my sleeves at the same time, partly because in the event of Project Abandonment, both sleeves will (optimistically speaking) get finished the same way. I also like to knit my sleeves in the round to minimize the finishing.

The zipper has been bought, and once the sleeves are done and attached, Mom will be able to attach it and BAM! The sweater is done. I think that’s enough motivation to actually finish it.

I’m pretty excited about finishing a sweater- I don’t think I’ve finished a sweater in the last year. Half a dozen lace shawls, yes. Sweaters? No. I’ve also given away all but one of the sweaters that I’ve knit for myself.

Its funny how we evolve as knitters; ten years ago I was knitting six pairs of socks a month. Five years ago, I was knitting two pairs of socks a week and finishing a dozen large projects a year. Now, I’m spending more time spinning than knitting.

Sweaters don’t really take that much time; most of the sweaters I knit are out of worsted weight yarn. Even a sock can seem interminable- or maybe that’s just in my case, when I’m knitting Andrew’s giant socks.

Speaking of which, I finished off Pair #4 of the Black Sock Project on Friday night:

Once I finish Pair #5 of the Black Sock Project:

Andrew has requested that I begin the “Tan Sock Project”. My love for this man may be without limit.

Digging in the UFO basket

So, last night I thought to myself, "I know that I have more than one pair of fingering weight socks on the needles." So I went into the garage, where the UFO basket and bins are.

For those of you who are curious, the UFO basket is the one that I'm trying to empty in order to transition WIPs that have been "timed out" out of bins and into the basket. Eventually, all projects should get finished this way. In theory. If only theory applied to my knitting whims.

I came across two pairs of socks that were more than half done that I started in South Dakota last summer, for Andrew. Just FYI, I got razzed at XRX about knitting socks, but by the end of summer, most of the people who razzed me were knitting socks. Muah ah ah.

They're both Regia socks, and both are from the Braid Box closing sale (less than $2/ball). I've been on a finishing kick lately- mostly to free my needles for other projects, and absolve my knitting soul for needless but AWESOME purchases.

I will also be finishing a pair of charity baby sockies made of Fancy Image Yarns Superwash Merino so that I can free those needles up to knit Constance's birthday socks out of this month's Yarn of the Month from Fancy Image.

I really like my little project progress monitors, and it looks like the percentage bars aren't up and running. So this is it for now as far as blog changes are concerned.

ETA for the Watermelon and Hogwarts yarn is about 2 weeks. Woo!