Startitis?

Is that what this is? It doesn't feel like startitis. Perhaps that is because you only feel startitis when you fight it? Since I have given in to every whim, I have not noticed?

Hm. Anyway, I kind of feel like I have an awful lot OTN.

--Shedir
--Big Black Socks of neverending doom
--Bigfoot missionary shawl (the missionary I was planning to give it to? back already. dangit)
--Snug Harbor
--Starry Night Socks

I also started a scarf for a friend but I don't like the way it is coming out so I plan to rip it back, and therefore I do not count it in this list. Those are just the active projects. The "hibernating" projects, to borrow a ravelry term, are:
--Witterings hat
--garter stitch shawl
--chocolate waffle scarf

The last is so mind-numbingly dull that I only work on it when I don't have anything else at the "relatively thoughtless" stage. It's been getting a lot of play since out of the projects listed in the first list above, the only one that I really had at a thoughtless stage was the snug harbor one and that one is really too large to be as portable as I would like.

Last night I solved this problem by inserting a dental floss lifeline and ripping back part of the BBS. I misunderstood something in the pattern and knit about an inch and a half past where I was supposed to on the foot. So last night I fixed that, and now that sock only needs a toe and then I can cast on for the second one, which will have 12 utterly mindless inches of ribbing before I have to think again. I hope to finish the toe tonight.

But, I didn't do that until after choir practice last night, and since I really needed something to work on that wasn't the chocolate waffle scarf (please not the chocolate waffle scarf), I cast on the second starry night sock. This turned out to be perfect because I got almost exactly the right amount of ribbing done at the top of the sock, so now I am set to start the patterned section whenever I am ready.

I start to get fidgety when I have too many things going on, like I have some sort of guilt complex or whatever, so I'd really like to finish off some of these projects. Shedir is about a good day's work away from completion (and I am really concerned that it is way, way too big). I have a long way to go yet on the missionary shawl. I may try to put in the time tonight on the Snug Harbor, which really should be the fastest of all of these to finish, I would think. I am thinking I will try to finish the first BBS and the Snug Harbor by the weekend, and then spend Sunday afternoon finishing Shedir. Saturday we're having a board game party, so I will need something simple to do on that day - which will be perfect for the second BBS! I'll still have a lot on the needles, but at least I will feel like I have made progress, which has been a sensation severely lacking in the last couple of weeks.

I am itching to start Odessa and also a baby blanket for a high school friend pregnant with her first child, but I am doing my very best to hold back until I can finish a couple of things.

Low-yield Weekend

This weekend was so busy that I had hardly any time to knit. I put a little over a round on the Witterings Hat on Friday, and then didn't pick up the needles until Sunday, when I worked on my cape. I got about two inches done on it, which was nice. However, I think the fact that I have ripped out the heel on my pedicure sock for the third...no, I think it's actually the fourth time. Last time was the third, wasn't it? I don't remember anymore. Anyway, I ripped it out again. It was too long, it didn't fall in the right spot on my heel - I just wasn't happy with it. I haven't been able to touch the thing since.

Instead, I knit a swatch from KnitPicks Essential in Riverbed Multi. I was unreasonably pleased that my guage came out to exactly 8 sts to the inch on #2 needles. I like exactitude. Of course, we'll see how exact it is after it's been washed.

I got my friend's measurements for the Urban Necessity pattern, so I am pleased that I can start that soon too. I do think I will swatch this one as well, too. I hate taking the time to swatch because I would rather just get on with the project, but...better safe than sorry in this case, I think, since she is not here to try it on in progress.

I wound a ball of Lorna's Laces Shepherd Sock that I also plan to swatch and wash. I have enough for a pair of socks each in the YarnMarket exclusive colorways Irises, Snowscapes, and Starry Nights. I actually gasped when I saw the Starry Night yarn. I am not really a fan of Van Goph in general or that painting specifically, but the yarn is so beautiful!

Knitter's Block

I'm stuck and frustrated. Not on any particular project - on ALL of them, it seems like.

1. Pedicure socks - I am going to run out of yarn. I have resigned myself to this fact, and ordered another skein, fully aware that it probably won't be the same dyelot. I don't care. They're pedicure socks. They're a treat, and something I'm doing more for fun than because it will be useful. However, this means I will have to frog the heel for the second time. The first time I messed up and lost my place, and decided it would be less confusing just to rip it back and start over. The second time I am doing it because I had stopped the leg part at three inches instead of five, because I was afraid of running out of yarn. Now that I know there is no way I will get two socks out of the one skein, I can do it right. So, rather than have a pair that are two inches shorter than ideal and have a bunch of leftover yarn, I'm frogging the heel. I have accepted it, I tell myself I am okay with it...but I am not in a hurry to DO it.

2. Homespun Cape. I'm just frustrated at my inability to count on this one. It hasn't really done anything wrong, other than shed all over me. The shedding does bother me, though, and it's really quite warm out. My room is roasting in the evenings despite the fan running full blast. I can't handle sheddy alpaca until it cools off some.

3. Witterings Hat. It hurts my hands. :oP And I just don't have a fire under me for this project at the moment, for some reason. But mostly it's the hand hurting. I can't work on this every day for a week without having a claw on the end of my right arm at the end of it all.

3. Charity hat. Acrylic.

4. In my infinite brilliance I picked up a couple of skeins of Lionbrand Homespun thinking I would make a quick scarf for charity. I loathe it with the fire of a thousand suns. Considering just calling it a loss and putting all my acrylic in the church garage sale. I was okay before I knew what I was doing. Now I can't stand it anymore. Arylic, thou art dead to me.

Still waiting on measurements for Urban Necessity; she mailed them to me yesterday so hopefully I should get it in the next couple of days. Maybe this will bring meaning to my life again, I don't know.

I also have new yarn arriving...of course when I went to order more of the Paris Rain, I couldn't just do that. I ordered enough Snowscapes to make my mom a pair of pedicure socks to go in her Christmas stocking, and some Lorna's Laces to try out.

I really want to try making a real sock, but the math is kind of scary for me. What if they don't fit? What if they shrink? And most of all...I don't WANNA knit a guage swatch. Do I HAVE to?? (Yes, yes, I know...the answer is without question a yes...but I still don't wanna.)

I may end up getting Getting Started Knitting Socks. I've heard it's good from multiple sources now...I wonder if the B&N down the street has it?

Takebacks

I may owe Witterings an appology. It was mostly cooperative last night, except that now I have started the increase rows again, and I am frequently finding myself short a stitch at the end of the round. I don't know how I consistently manage this, but I do. :oP

Still, I'm getting a little enthusiasm back for the project, which I think is a good thing. I've got a crazy schedule this week so between that and working on my slowest project there is not much in the way of progress, but I'm going steadily round and round and round.

Besides, I'm still mad at the alpaca shawl.

I will not be defeated.

I forgot to mention that I also worked on the Witterings hat yesterday during our Labor Day cook-in (the cooking was out, but it was hot, so the eating was in).

The thing is totally kicking my butt, and I am severely annoyed about it. It's taking forever, the yarn, while plenty soft in the skein and once knit, wears out my fingertips during the process of knitting.

I got through all of four and a half rounds yesterday. I was so not pleased. 2 of those rows were knitted through the back loop. I like to think this is why they took so long and bothered me so much. I don't really understand the purpose of doing this, but I have faith that it was important.

I kind of expected that leaving the hat and then coming back to it would make it seem easier, but it hasn't. It's still an annoying PITA. Is all cotton yarn this obnoxious or did I just choose poorly? Maybe it is the texture of the yarn. It is kind of wierd and pebbly.

Regardless, I am deeply vexed. I plan to soldier on and finish the stupid thing (I WILL NOT BE BEATEN) but I'm definately not having the time of my life. :oP

Itchy fingers

My order from KnitPicks was in West Virginia on Saturday so I am hoping it will show up today. I'm very excited. Probably more so than I should be, considering. I'm in love with the idea of knitting the cape I've mentioned, so it will be awesome to have the supplies to do that - but I am still working on the hat for Karen, and I'd kind of like to avoid starting too many things now that I have gotten back down to only two WIPs. At one point I had something like four or five on the needles at once, which starts to make me twitch. Two is a good number - one complicated (the hat), one mindless (the shawl). That way I have something interesting to knit at home and something that doesn't require too much attention that I can take with me when I go places. Also, the cape is really a fall/winter garment and I have been pretty constantly too hot for the past couple of weeks, so the idea of knitting something warm and thick is kind of...daunting is not the right word - I guess it's just not really appealing.

I did also order a ball of Shine Sport in Cloud to knit myself some cotton slippers. The hardwood floors are a little tough on my feet so I wanted something softer between me and them, but all the slippers I have are designed to keep your feet warm as well as cushioned, which I don't really need. I have a pattern for ballet slipper-style...uh, slippers. Shine is a cotton-modal blend (modal is made from fiber that comes from beech trees - I had to look it up) so it should be fairly cool and all the stuff I've read on various internet sites spoke highly of it as a textile. It's also machine washable, which, again, I do not ever intend to knit anything for the feet that is not machine washable. Because, you know, FEET. I am not going to hand wash anything designed to be walked on. Anyway, I'm hoping they will be fairly quick to knit, if I can just figure out the assembly part of it. I'm really a big fan of things that do not need to be sewn together, but these have to be seamed down the middle (or, actually, along the side, I think, but I'm not sure).

I was so mad at myself - I forgot to take the pedicure socks to church to give to DB this past weekend. :oP I will have to wrap them up in tissue paper tonight and put them in my church bag so this does not happen again.

I did make good progress on the hat for K. I made it through the last increase row for a while so the next 18 rows are just straight stockinette. I've gotten better about the increases, but they're still a little tough on my hands.

There's several finishing instructions for blocking the hat and adding a band inside, that I think I may leave to Karen because they are all specific to the size of one's head.

I am regretting my choice of color a little bit. I don't like the dark blue and light blue together as much as I thought I would. To me, it kind of looks like it used to be dark blue and white and then it bled in the wash. disagrees, but he usually does when I am unhappy with my work. Not that I don't believe him, I'm just saying. It's kind of in his best interests to say it looks okay. ;o) I think what I wish I had used was Burnt Sienna and Buttermilk. Also, I'm not as fond of the stripes themselves. I think I would have liked them thicker. So if I do this pattern again, I will do it in Burnt Sienna and Buttermilk with a strip pattern of 4 rounds instead of two. Live and learn. I'm not sure I ever will do this again because I have found it to be kind of difficult, but I don't know...it might go better the second round, and I can think of a couple of people who might have use for a hat like this. We'll see. Anyway, I still have a long way to go on what I have now, and summer will not last forever!!

I worked on the hat for all of my knitting time yesterday, even though I had originally intended to make some cat toys for fun. After church and lunch, I went to Michaels and the World Market (I was looking for Japanese tea bags I could use to put the scent in for the little candy wrapper sachets I plan to knit, and thought there was an off chance they might have some, but they didn't - I can probably try Wegmans), and then I went to Best Buy and picked up Die Hard and Die Hard III (they did not have 2 or the box set, which annoyed me, but I guess they are probably expecting a new box set to come out when Live Free or Die Hard is released on DVD; I know 2 kind of sucked, but I want it anyway), and Sense and Sensibility (what? it was on sale!), and then I went back to 's where he was indulging an urge to bake. So I knitted, watched movies, and ate cake and cookies fresh from the oven. It was a damn good day.