Knitting Goals: Monogamy

Well, OK, maybe not monogamy exactly but I *do* really want to finish some projects.

Specifically I'd like to get these done by the end of month SKA deadline:

SKA deadlines are entirely meaningless. If I finish I'm entered into the prize draw - the chances of winning are slim and I'm not concerned about the prizes, BUT the notion of having a time to be done with this project and to move onto the next is important. Projects have been slow recently and I really need to see some finished objects.

I am accepting that the second pair of socks I started for December won't be finished by the end of the month (I'm still knitting the first one). Other things I'd like to knock on the head this weekend include:

• Weaving in those last ends on my alpaca shawl. It's blocked already so it really just needs a dry moment with the camera and then I'll declare it finished.
• Blocking the back of my Angostura. I'm concerned it might be a little (lot?) long so I need to finish the last row and then pop it on a bit of scrap yarn and wash/block it to see what changes.

I also need to resist the urge to start too many new projects!

Simple Things

I'm working towards my first big deadline of 2012 - the next two are both next week (I start working towards them on Saturday). I can barely calculate when my next quiet work moment will be and so I am demanding non-demandingness of my knitting:



Even this it seems is pretty tricky. I have just spend much of my lunchtime tinking back purl rows... who knew garter stitch could be so tricky?

45 yards

I've finished spinning and plying the merino/silk sample from Colourful Designs:

A quick count suggests there might be just short of 45 yards in this skein... so what to do with it? It's not been washed yet so I'm unsure about wraps-per-inch but I suspect it will come out as a light fingering weight.

Ideas?

Soothed

Last night I sat down after dinner for a little bit of time at the wheel:

This is a Fibreholics sample (20g). 70% Merino, 30% Mulberry Silk Top from Colourful Designs in colourway Sweet Peas.

Tonight I hope to finish off the spinning and chain ply it. I've no idea what it's going to be but I quite fancy knitting with it this weekend...

Overtired and Underknit

I have not been knitting. Back at work for but one week and I am already so tired I can barely form a knit stitch at all.

This morning I rummaged through my bag to find this:

Perfect.

(And tonight, perhaps I'll take that early night after all...)

Resolutions

We're a week (and some) into 2012 and this year I'm challenging myself with three simple resolutions:

This is a follow-on from this years (I think) improved behaviour with regards to yarn buying. I felt like I bought less last year than the previous year... but did I? This year I just want to get a grip on exactly what my stash looks like and how it changes through the year. No promises to use more than I buy or any of that - I just want to *know* what I'm doing^*.

This *should* be an easy one (at least the first half). I've made it to week 7 of couch25k, but as work deadlines have stacked up I've been finding it harder to get out of the office. So... I've put it here. It's on paper and people have seen it and now I have to do it.

A very modern malady - like so many others I find myself increasingly bouncing from one thing that 'needs to be done' to the next. I am ashamed to say that I didn't see my grandmother at all in 2011 (she lives 20 minutes down the road). A hermit no more, I will arrange to see people this year AND I will spend a little more time at home just being me.

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^* I will aim to know what I am doing in this very specific context. Knowing what I am doing in the broader sense is pretty unlikely.

In Stitches: 2011

Another New Year!

I have mixed feelings about 2011s knitting. In numbers, 2011 looks similar to 2010. 19 finished projects (plus a swatching experiment and a mini sock). There were more (documented) failures though - socks that are still in hibernation,^{(rav 1 & 2)} a scarf that was just too scratchy,^(rav) and a shawl where a beautiful yarn conspired to hide a beautiful pattern^(rav). Plus a barely documented (but bitter) failure: a tank top that grew beyond all recognition.^(rav)

Back to the finished projects...

This year I've finished seven pairs of socks: five for me and two for 'him'. I am particularly fond of my Ribbed Ribbon Socks^(rav) - the pattern is simple but effective. Despite my firm assertion that lace socks have nothing on twisted stitches, these are probably my favourite socks of the year.

Other favourites:

• Maeva:^(rav) it took perseverance to get the sizing right, but the pattern looks great, introduced me to a cheap yarn (£2.60 for 100g) and was the first project where I experimented with adding stitches as I got higher up the leg (I have unusually round legs for a not-very-round person, adding stitches allowed me to get a proper length sock).
• Both of 'his' socks:^{(rav 1 & 2)} the slipped-stitch patterns on these are really effective.
• Citron:^(rav) my first (and, to-date, only) foray into laceweight. I love the yarn and it's perfect for this pattern. I've only worn the shawl once (someone do inform me how I fit these into my everyday) but it's gorgeous.
• Hey Te(a)ch:^(rav) this was the first pieced garment that I started and the second I finished (Gwen was the first finished). It fits well, is still a colour I love and is a) totally wearable for the everyday (in summer) and b) machine washable. Love.

And the not so good?

• The tank top of doom:^(rav) Enough said.
• Mallard Mittens:^(rav) These look nice but they don't fit that well.

Hmm... actually, with the exception of the aforementioned failures, I don't particularly dislike anything I've knit this year... I think my mixed feelings about 2011 knitting come from the fact that I feel like I could have somehow done more or better. Either I need to lighten up, or I need to make and keep some knitting resolutions this year!

(Or both).