Clutter

People often say that I knit fast, but I don't think that's true - I just knit a LOT.  With no kids, no dog, few more "active" hobbies, a shamefully high tolerance for household clutter, a husband that does all the cooking, and a highly cultivated ability to procrastinate things I don't like to do, I spend a lot of time knitting.

My high clutter tolerance does not really extend to knitting "clutter" - by which I mean, half-finished projects laying about the house.  I definitely have a maximum tolerance threshold in this area.  This is one reason I avoid promising to make things for other people.  I always make a mental note of the people who have expressed interest in my knitting or that I think might like a particular article, but I almost never say "yes, I will knit that for you," because at heart I am a deeply selfish knitter, and I want to make what I want to make. 

I don't refer to these project as "clutter" because they are unloved or because I am unwilling to do them, but for some reason they have taken a secondary position, either because I was caught up in another project, or because I hit some snag that required time and attention to address.  Mostly, they are little items or items that are almost finished, that I feel should be done in a reasonable amount of time.  In the past couple of weeks I have been overcome with - I'm not sure "guilt" is the right word, but it's as close as I can get, for these poor neglected projects. 

So, even though I desperately want to be working on lace and catching up with Romi before she has time to release another pattern (which won't be long - the new P&L is due out sometimes towards the end of the month if I'm not mistaken, and it sounds like we are headed for another shawl out of the e-book around the same time), I have been spending some time cleaning up "clutter" projects.

Last week was, obviously, the first spurt, resulting in a bunch of blocked shawls, the completed thrummed mittens, and finishing the first sock of CodeNinja's honeymoon socks.  This week I knit the entire second sock, which just goes to show that I had little to no excuse for spending five months on the first one. 



And oddly enough, the first one (the one on top) seems lighter than the second one, which I really can't account for.  I mean, even if the first one had been left out in the sun for a period of its non-progress, would it have faded so evenly all over?  I'm wondering if the first one just appears lighter because CodeNinja tried it on more times so it is a little stretched out?  No idea - we'll see what happens when I wash it.

Regardless, our matched pair of socks, both made from String Theory yarn I bought a couple of days before the wedding, are finished.



And, because it tickles me, here is the sock for my Cinderella-sized foot on top of his sock.



That makes two "clutter" projects off the plate.  I have one more pair of socks I promised to someone, which are not even started (well, they were started and I didn't like them so I ripped them out), a second sock for CodeNinja on another pair that never got finished (this one particularly annoys me because I have been proud of my immunity to second sock syndrome up until now, but the needles I was using were bad and I had to free up a set), and then a pair of armwarmers for me that have been the project that sits by my computer and gets a few rounds while I am waiting for stuff to load, reading something, or any other activity that doesn't use my hands.  I'm going to try not to be nettled about the lack of progress on those, since that is sort of the point of the project.  So, the one pair of socks, my Galadriel's Mirror shawl which is almost, almost complete, and a sweater that I am resigned will take me until the end of time to finish, because it is always my last choice for knitting.  I think if I can get one of these three off my plate, I will be down to a satisfactory level of knitting clutter.

Except, there's one little snag in that plan.  My church is sending a missions team to the Czech republic and all of the church's knitters & crocheters are being asked to contribute hats, scarves, and such for the orphanage that we support there.  One of my friends who is organizing this effort said that since I am the "sock queen" (that is mostly what they see me knitting, since socks are small and portable) she was hoping that I could knit some socks.  So, I have several balls of KnitPicks Felici winging their way to me to become little socks for orphans.  I thought the self-striping yarn would be fun.  I ordered enough to make 4 pair, so those are on my knitting list as well.  Guess those will be my "carry-around" projects for a while!  I have never knitted socks for non-adult feet so I need to figure out what a good size is for the age guidance I was given, which was "elementary school."  I picked two colorways that are "girly" and two that are more masculine.  Fortunately, I am going to visit my mother in November and hopefully I will get some travel knitting in, otherwise I would despair of being able to keep up with all of my knitting desires and obligations!  (It's the desires part that is the problem.  If only I were a better person who was more willing to knit things that are useful for other people, instead of frothy lace shawls for me!)

Nevertheless, I am still trying to keep up with my lace, and to prove it, I have made it to chart E of Rosa Flora.  I think of this as the beginning of the fun part, since I am heading for the lovely leaf motif coming soon!  My "duty before pleasure" approach to the last couple of weeks has slowed her development sadly, but I am glad to be making progress at last.



Meanwhile I have cast on the second sock of CodeNinja's pair to be my travel around project.  I don't really love the yarn at all, but with one complete sock, I feel I would be better off just getting the second one done than having a single sock lay around forever!