on the needles
The last few months, I've been on a monogamous knitting jag. I'll focus on just one project at a time until it's done, and then I start another. The only recent overlap was the Christmas knitting, when I had two projects going: MJ's mittens, which were colorwork and therefore not portable, and my brother's socks, which were easy and were mostly knit away from home or in front of the TV.
Now I'm back to doing one thing at a time, and I'm not entirely convinced that's a good thing. Having too many WIPs can be overwhelming, of course, but it's nice to be able to go back and forth between two or three projects to keep the creative juices flowing, to prevent one project from going stale.
At the moment, though, I'm just chugging away on the Lightweight Pullover, which is going surprisingly fast considering its small gauge. The design is so very simple and straightforward that I can pick it up and work on it pretty much whenever I want. I've been knitting while the kids play in the living room, while I'm talking on the phone, even while reading bedtime stories (I put the Little People to work holding the books and turning the pages, and this makes Them feel Very Important).
Even though I haven't started anything new, I've sneaked in a bit of swatching. Here's my current knitting basket:
You can see I've already reached the ribbing on the bottom of my sweater. When that's done, all I have left are the sleeves. When I started, I was a little concerned that I wouldn't have enough yarn for long sleeves, but I'm not even through the second skein (each is about 400 yards), so that is no longer an issue.
The blue yarn you see resting on the top is Valley Yarns Northampton Bulky, which I just bought to make a sweater for Stuart (I was serious about owing him a sweater!), but alas, it's not going to work out. I'm having gauge problems, which I can get around, but the real problem is the color. It's called "navy" but the color is just a little too bright; he pretended to like it, but I can just tell it's not right for him. I really want something darker and more subtle. Ah, the perils of buying yarn online unseen! (I've already got an alternate plan for the yarn, though. I asked Anya the other day if I could make her a sweater, and she asked for a blue one. I found this pattern on Ravelry, and I think it's a good match.) I've already placed an order for another yarn, which hopefully will work out (this is how the stash...er...collection grows!)
And last, do you see the brown tweed peeking out? That's some kind of tweedy wool I bought for a project - I've already forgotten what, though perhaps it was something for Anya - a couple years ago. I was even considering donating it to a community center when I saw the latest pattern release, Jetty, on Winged Knits, and I had an aha! moment. The pattern and yarn seem to be a good match, and I think I have exactly enough.
That's a lot of sweaters in the line-up. My husband's birthday is next month, and I really really want to make him a sweater, so that takes priority. But aside from that, who knows where the shifting winds of my knitting mood will take me once I'm ready to start another project? Socks? Colorwork? Baby stuff for the rash of birth announcements we've received lately? I've had the attitude lately that I knit for my own joy rather than obligation, so...we shall see. We shall see.
Now I'm back to doing one thing at a time, and I'm not entirely convinced that's a good thing. Having too many WIPs can be overwhelming, of course, but it's nice to be able to go back and forth between two or three projects to keep the creative juices flowing, to prevent one project from going stale.
At the moment, though, I'm just chugging away on the Lightweight Pullover, which is going surprisingly fast considering its small gauge. The design is so very simple and straightforward that I can pick it up and work on it pretty much whenever I want. I've been knitting while the kids play in the living room, while I'm talking on the phone, even while reading bedtime stories (I put the Little People to work holding the books and turning the pages, and this makes Them feel Very Important).
Even though I haven't started anything new, I've sneaked in a bit of swatching. Here's my current knitting basket:
You can see I've already reached the ribbing on the bottom of my sweater. When that's done, all I have left are the sleeves. When I started, I was a little concerned that I wouldn't have enough yarn for long sleeves, but I'm not even through the second skein (each is about 400 yards), so that is no longer an issue.
The blue yarn you see resting on the top is Valley Yarns Northampton Bulky, which I just bought to make a sweater for Stuart (I was serious about owing him a sweater!), but alas, it's not going to work out. I'm having gauge problems, which I can get around, but the real problem is the color. It's called "navy" but the color is just a little too bright; he pretended to like it, but I can just tell it's not right for him. I really want something darker and more subtle. Ah, the perils of buying yarn online unseen! (I've already got an alternate plan for the yarn, though. I asked Anya the other day if I could make her a sweater, and she asked for a blue one. I found this pattern on Ravelry, and I think it's a good match.) I've already placed an order for another yarn, which hopefully will work out (this is how the stash...er...collection grows!)
And last, do you see the brown tweed peeking out? That's some kind of tweedy wool I bought for a project - I've already forgotten what, though perhaps it was something for Anya - a couple years ago. I was even considering donating it to a community center when I saw the latest pattern release, Jetty, on Winged Knits, and I had an aha! moment. The pattern and yarn seem to be a good match, and I think I have exactly enough.
That's a lot of sweaters in the line-up. My husband's birthday is next month, and I really really want to make him a sweater, so that takes priority. But aside from that, who knows where the shifting winds of my knitting mood will take me once I'm ready to start another project? Socks? Colorwork? Baby stuff for the rash of birth announcements we've received lately? I've had the attitude lately that I knit for my own joy rather than obligation, so...we shall see. We shall see.
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