Knitting? You Mean She Knits, Too?

I know, I've been talking a lot about myself, lately. But precious little about my knitting. Thankfully, that has still been going on.

Not without some hitches and delays, though. This weekend, I hit a major knitting slump, and couldn't bring myself to knit a stitch all day Friday, Saturday, and up until the Oscars on Sunday night. And even then, all I did was finish a project that had a mere two short rows to go, and I couldn't stand to knit anything else after I was done.

Monday, though, I found my groove again and got back to it. That's the good news. The bad news is, in the process of organizing my stash last week, I located three - yes, three - UFO's. And they're all things that I actually want, so back into the active list they go. Two steps forward, one, two, or three back....right?

So, here's Folkcat's Knitting Update for this week, just so we can keep the scorecards straight.

Projects on the needles, but on hiatus:

1. Ruana to replace UCP. Still waiting to find the extra, bright pink accent yarn I will need to be able to finish this.

Ongoing Projects that stay on the list even if I finish one:

2. The Sock Project. I finished a new pair this weekend, while watching the Oscars. But since the goal is to A) develop a pattern to sell, and B) fill out an entire personal wardrobe of these things, this project stays on the list, and I'll be casting on a new pair soon.

New Socks! Yay!

Since this is a pattern I'm refining, I'm being ultra-critical of each pair as I finish and then test wear them. This pair, worked in Knit Picks' Simple Stripes Sock Yarn (Sweet Tarts color), feels great. Except I think I either knit the foot portion too long, or too short. The toe hem falls directly under the balls of my feet as I walk, and that's feeling a bit uncomfortable. If they'd been longer, they could be under the first knuckle of my toes and not an issue. Or if they were shorter, the hems would be under my instep, and again wouldn't be a problem.

There's a lot to be said for shorter - less issue of the foot riding forward and getting uncomfortable around the toes then. So I think that's going to be what I try next.

For what it's worth, the leftover yarn from two 50g balls of Knit Picks Simple Stripes was about 29 grams. Very economical socks that way, even for huge feet like mine (10 1/2 WW). Wonder if I can get a pair out of one ball of Simple Stripes if I do the shorter foot?

New Projects on the Needles:

3. Baby Blanket . After the slump, I decided what I needed on Monday was to cast on for something totally new and different. So I grabbed that soft green yarn that I was gifted, and some white from my stash, and began another iteration of a baby blanket I've knit about 6 or 7 times.

Something for Baby

I've had this Leisure Arts booklet for a long time. It was purchased in the early 80's from a store in the Syracuse area called VIP Yarns. They disappeared by the end of the 80's, and haven't been found in Central New York in many, many years. No idea if they still exist elsewhere.

The booklet has only 4 patterns in it, and three of them are crochet. But that's okay - I got it exclusively for the one Knitted Ripple afghan. Alternating sections of straight garter stitch with sections of spaced increases and decreases that form the ripples, the final form of this afghan is a gentle, undulating series of curves - not a pointy row of zigzags.

I've done this in a number of colorways. White garter stitch sections with variegated pastel yarn; white with single color of pastel, as I'm doing this time; or an assortment of jeweltones. Very versatile, quick to knit, and the pattern is memorized in a snap, so it's very portable, too.

Projects Retrieved from Stash Hell:

4. Ladder yarn shawl. About 18 months ago, when I started knitting prayer shawls to give away, I actually started by knitting one for myself. I wanted something lightweight that I could wear all year, yet with a slightly heavy hand that let you feel that there was something draped over your shoulders.

My first shawl, then, was knit from a ladder yarn that I purchased at the craft store. I didn't have Knitting Into the Mystery yet, so I just made up my own pattern.

What I didn't know was that ladder yarn would tend to draw in from the sides drastically. So my first ladder yarn shawl works as a shawl only if you shake it out real well, and then don't move while it's over your shoulders.

I decided later that I wanted to try again, so I cast on a new, much wider piece. But somewhere along the way (probably about a year ago, when we were going through the hassle of the Going Out of Business sale at our bead store), it got set aside and never picked up again.

I still want this shawl, so back on the active list it goes.

5. Queen-size blanket for my bed. I finished the knitting of this piece over a year ago, then stalled on the issue of weaving in the ends. It's huge, with a garter stitch border, and an interior pattern of a patchwork arrangement of squares designed for the Warm Up America program. Knit in a single shade of purple (to go with a set of purple sheets that I didn't have a blanket to match), it was a project I was proud of when I finished. Now, I should weave in those ends so I can actually use the darn thing!

6. Homespun cardigan . This is the one and only sweater I've ever knit for myself. The pattern came from a book of plus-size sweater patterns, and is a simple belt-tie cardigan. I knit all the pieces, but have never woven in the ends and seamed it together. This would be a useful addition to my wardrobe, so I'm hoping to actually complete it at last.

Projects I want to cast on in spite of the length of this list

7. Wearable Hug #14 . Three days after re-organizing the stash, I spotted yet another small tote in the living room that had yarn in it. There were two skeins of sock yarn that got added to the sock yarn basket, and three skeins of Homespun yarn in Candy Apple Red that I had forgotten I'd picked up. Given the mysterious ways that WH projects move in my life, I should take locating the yarn as a sign that it's time to get started on another one.

8. Preemie hats . Also uncovered in the stash reorganizing was a mini-tote's worth of yarn suitable for preemie hats. And since I now have a way to get these where they can be used, I want to get back into making more of them.

9. Miscellaneous cold-weather accessories . Scarves, hats, and the like. I've learned that a friend's mother is a pediatrician in a clinic where they see lots of immigrants from warmer climates who don't have - and have trouble affording - warm things to wear in our colder climate. She collects such things to keep in her office and give out as she sees the need, and her daughter - my friend - suggested that some of my acrylic stash yarn would be ideal for items to enhance the supplies. This means I can make an ongoing, stash-busting, stitch-experimenting project of creating scarves and things just for the heck of it, and I'll know they'll be put to good use.

Edited later to add: 10. Cotton dishcloths. I just remembered when I walked through the kitchen that Gryphon has actually requested that I make more of these, as he's finding the one I've knit so much more useful than others that we bought. -FC

Whew!

That seems like a lot to be knitting all at once, doesn't it? I'll probably want to make a hardcopy list that I keep handy near my knitting spot, to remind myself not to spend all my time on only one project.

But it looks like I've got no excuse to get bored with my knitting for a while, since there will always be something different to work on when I start feeling the knitennui!