Where did it go?

It’s been about a month (maybe more?) since my last tirade about this stuff, so consider yourself warned.  I’m going to go off about undisciplined knitting and me.
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So, back to my question… where did it go?

My knitting drive, I mean.  Where did it go?  Since Wednesday I’ve only knitted on a swatch (to test those needles, see the previous post) and two rounds on a baby sock.  That’s it.  I can’t even say that I’ve gotten so much done around my house or with my kids or anything like that.  I just haven’t done knitting ~ or much of anything else, either.

Why do you think that is?  How can I put the needles down for so long with so many things that I want to knit?

I am not really sure why, but I think that having so many things pulling on my knitting attention might be getting to me.  I have a little pile of UFOs (and, ugh! last week I found 2 hibernating projects!) and while I was trying to knit on one I was dreaming of another (or two!)  As I’ve told you a few times, it makes me feel kind of restless.  And agitated.  I have that nagging, overwhelming feeling of not getting things done.  I’m also undecided about a project I might want to cast on ~ which I wouldn’t even be thinking about if I were doing what I know I need to do!!!!  Anyway… should or should not, I have been thinking of it.

sorry about the coloring. iPhone photo

You see, I’ve knitted a little “santa cap” for Gariníon and I’m working on some stocking-looking socks to match and I thought that a sweater to go with it would be SO awesome….  So, of course, I start looking for a perfect sweater pattern, but it needs to be done in fingering weight so that the color will match properly (I’m using Baby Ull by Dale.  I love, love, love, that yarn!) and, of course, I need to find out if I can get more of the yarn in the same dye lot (though I suppose that if it’s a separate garment, even a different dye lot might be close enough… I need to email Larissa and Woolybaabaa and ask about availability.)  And then, of course, as I think of all of this, I think that I must be crazy and that I am not getting the things from my list done and I won’t ever be able to do my Christmas knitting and all of the rest, which, of course, makes me feel overwhelmed which seems to drive me away from the needles….

I’m about to do what I do every year and blow off the Christmas knitting. It’s November 1st.  I’ve only finished two pair of socks that I planned to give as gifts.  I’m not really a slow knitter (but slower than I used to be!) but I don’t have as much knitting time as I wish I did. Little things like the kids, the house, homeschooling, etc., need to come first, so my time is limited.

I’m about to tell myself that I’ll start my Christmas knitting for 2011 on December 26, 2010 (and this time, actually do it!  No.  Really.  I mean it.  Seriously.  Stop laughing!  I’m so very serious!)

This is why I hate willy-nilly casting on, multiple projects.  It’s just overwhelming and confusing and non-productive for me.  I don’t know how the rest of you do it.  I’m getting nowhere fast.  Next year is going to HAVE to be the year I get it together with this knitting or it will be the year I quit knitting.

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Okay, not really, but you know what I mean.

As if.  LOL!

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Off to email Larissa at Woolybaabaa about that yarn. I’m already “scr*w*d” so why not add a baby sweater to it?

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w00t!!!!

finally!!

SilverBells are finished!!!!!!  w00t!

🙂

 

I am so happy to be done! 🙂

These are a gift for my daughter-in-law. She loves purple.

Insanity

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Here is where things stand now.  All because I strayed from SilverBells before completion:

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I have 4 things on needles and I’m getting nowhere fast on all of them.  I seriously don’t have enough time to be this flighty and distracted in my knitting.  Yes, I enjoyed the quick, easy Feather and Fan scarf, but it was NOT worth it in the end.  I am left very unhappy and unfocused and I hate not getting anywhere.  I’m like an addict.  Any amount of (insert object of addiction) is too much.  Any extra project is too much and leads to chaos and sadness for me.

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I’m going to get back to focusing on one project at a time.

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1. Finish SilverBells
2. Finish ruffle scarf
3. Finish raglan

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Here is my “post catch up, back to sanity queue”

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1. Packers socks for TheMadHatter
2. 7 sweaters and matching hats

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I do reserve the right to change the queue, if something pressing comes up or if the project truly doesn’t work for me (like when I didn’t love SweetPea).  BUT IT WILL BE ONE THING AT A TIME!!!!

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How are things with you?

~happy knitting!

bwya

Wrestling with Myself

I have been so busy lately that I am not very far on SilverBells. I am nearly done with the foot of the first sock, so there is “forward progress” but it seems like I should be done with both by now!  I am frustrated by this.

I have this nagging voice in my head, coming from the undisciplined knitter that resides there, saying, “You have so much knitting you wanted to do for Christmas, so why don’t you cast on already?  Well begun is half done!”

Except that I know that with knitting, well begun does not automatically equal half done.  We only have two hands, so can only work on one project at a time.  Well begun simply means the WiP pile grows.

Even with this knowledge, I am sorely tempted to cast on a simple feather and fan (modified*) scarf.  I tell myself it would be good for my knitting mental health because it is such a quick and easy pattern (and I plan to make it with worsted weight yarn and size 10 needles) and it would give me a little variety in my knitting hours (okay, minutes.)  And that might just be true.  If I can tell myself, “well, sure, you’re still not done with SilverBells, but look (!) you’ve got 12 inches on that scarf done!” I might not feel so defeated by my lack of knitting time and slow progress.  Or I just might get that completely overwhelmed and defeated feeling when I see a pile (even a small one) of incomplete projects.  So, what am I to do?

I think I’ll ask myself a few questions.

Do you want to finish SilverBells or is this a way to “forget” about them?

This one is easy.  I do love these socks and I really enjoy the pattern.  I don’t think there is anything so sinister as looking for a way to dump them without feeling guilty.  I want to finish these socks.  I really do.

Will variety really make you feel any better?

This one is not so easy.  Giving my brain and fingers different stimuli would be a good thing, but at the same time, slowing down progress on SilverBells would be a bit discouraging, I think.

Will seeing progress on something like that quick and easy scarf make you feel fickle or productive?

Probably both!  but which is the better part?

Are you struggling with this idea of casting on another thing because you’re really concerned about finishing or are you afraid that your pride will take a hit if you have to admit “publicly” (if this blog and it’s 3 or 4 readers counts as public!) that you didn’t stick to your “disciplined knitting” routine?  Will Shelly laugh at me?  Hehehe….

Well, after thinking about this, I don’t think that the pride thing is an issue in this case, (after all, most knitters suffer from castonitis) but I do think I will bring a grin and a chuckle to Shelly.  The question is… is that a bad thing? 🙂

And lastly, are you enjoying your knitting time as is?

And here is the real question and the one that is probably hardest to answer!  I really, really love knitting SilverBells (I know, I’ve said that!) but at the same time that urge to cast on that most knitters suffer from is pretty incessant and neglecting/resisting it seems to create some sense of disappointment in me. On the other hand, every time I finish a pattern repeat, I know I’m that much closer to finishing and that’s a great feeling.

So, yes as you can see, the initial answers are pretty inconclusive, but I think there is enough for me to work with as I wrestle with myself.  Today I will weigh the answers to these questions and decide whether or not “just one more” is a great idea or a terrible one for me.  And then I’ll act accordingly!  Results of this “wrestling with self” to follow.

Happy knitting!

*the variation on feather and fan that I use is:
change the number of stitches in the pattern from 18 to 12
and then k2tog twice, yo, k1 4 times, k2tog twice.
it makes the same lovely pattern, just narrower.
I’ve also switched around the parts of the pattern
by starting with the yo,k1 and doing the k2tog in the middle.

Lunch Date!!!

I am so happy!  Today I got to go to lunch with my dear friend, KC.  We went to Chipotle (I’d never been before… YUM!  I’m still stuffed and not even thinking about eating dinner, let alone cooking.  Poor kids.)  After lunch, we went to our LYS.

I picked up a few things….

These are lovely, aren’t they?  I was planning on an order to KnitPicks, but I’ve spent over my budget (which has dwindled significantly… *sigh*) so I’ll be waiting on that.

By the way….. i’ve not wound or casted on any of this yarn.  🙂  it’s just waiting.  I have things planned, but have not casted them on!  But I will one day soon.  Yes.  Soon.

Thank you, KC, for a wonderful couple of hours!  I loved it and I hope we can do it again soon.

What do YOU think?

As much as I love the ease, brainlessness and speed of plain socks, I’m thinking I might want to do something a bit “fancier.”  Not too complicated (it’ll be my “to go” project, so I’ll need to be able to pick it up and put it down quickly) but a little more challenging than plain.  I’ll be done with TheQueenofHearts’ Dallas ankle socks soon and it’s time for another pair of socks.

I’m considering these patterns:

Sheri’s Lace Socks (PDF) by Sock Bug

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just my sneaky trick to format this the way i like.  wp doesn’t let me do as much as i would like with basic code, so I do this!

Silver Bells (PDF) by Ms. Create

just my sneaky trick to format this the way i like.  wp doesn’t let me do as much as i would like with basic code, so I do this!just my sneaky trick to format this the way i like.  wp doesn’t let me do as much as i would like with basic code, so I do this!

just my sneaky trick to format this the way i like.  wp doesn’t let me do as much as i would like with basic code, so I do this!

Sweetpea by Melissa Morgan-Oakes

I think I’ve made up my mind, but would be interested in knowing which you think I should do…. I will not use the recommended yarns and I probably won’t even come close on the colors, so focus on the design.   Leave a comment with your opinion…

Disciplined Knitting: Right now, I like it!

I have been deliberately choosing to limit my WiPs.  I have ONE project on the needles.  Lots planned, of course.  And I get those urges to cast on “just one more” but I’ve resisted.  Right now, I like it!  What I like about it is the feeling of accomplishment.  I am getting things done much quicker in my limited knitting time than I did before.  I also like that the decision about what to pick up right now, at this knitting moment is already made.  There’s only one thing to pick up!

I have to say I feel a bit calmer, too.  I think things felt too chaotic when I had too many projects going.  There was a lot, visually, going on in my knitting area when I had a lot of projects going.  There was a lot, mentally, going on with me because my brain traipsed among all of the works too often and too fleetingly.  Right now, I feel focused and not distracted.  Too many projects makes me feel distracted.  While I hold one, I think about another (and another. and another.)  That is not to say that I won’t ever have more than one thing on the needles at a time.  I’m sure I will.  Something simple (like these NFL socks) and maybe something a bit more complex or a longer-term project.

Another way this feels like it might be a good thing is that it is long past time to start Christmas knitting.  If I am focused on one or two things, I may find that I continue to get more done in less time, which increases the odds of getting the Christmas knitting done!  I have to give it some thought, but I think that I might be able to mention and show pictures of my Christmas knitting here because I don’t think any of my family comes here at all!  But I’ll have to think that through a bit before I disclose anything.

So, here’s some recent knititng:

I finished the men’s Packers socks.  (Yarn from my stash.  It is a Chestnut Bay yarn [NFL Go Team “club”]  They have nothing listed on their etsy page right now and their last blog entry is OLD!  hmmmm.  I wonder if they’re taking a break or doing customs?)

I’m nearly done with the first *choke* Dallas ankle sock (also Chestnut Bay.)

Of course what I love about these socks is that they’re plain and simple.  The colorway makes a patterned sock a waste of time.  These went/are going pretty quickly.  Yay!

This weekend hasn’t been too bad with regard to finding knitting time, but during the week, I find that I don’t get as much time as I’d like.  *sigh*  Duty first!

Happy knitting!

Still Slugging Along

I’m still slugging along on the sleeves of the Inishturk.  I am picking up stitches and knitting them straight on the sweater.  It probably would have been faster to knit them separately, but I really didn’t want any more seaming than necessary.

I changed the sleeves, too.  I am doing them in solid double seed stitch, no cables or braids.  I just wanted something simple, mindless and without a pattern!

I am getting very tired of this sweater, though.  I just want to put it down… and I might.  My fear, however, is that once I put it down I won’t pick it back up.  But then again, I have baby knitting to do for our grandchild who is due in May.  Time may be an issue after all.  I don’t know what to do.   I keep thinking that I can get the sleeves done in X days, but I don’t meet the deadline.  Yesterday I wasn’t able to knit at all (which was quite frustrating!)

So, if your first grandchild was due in early May, would you put the sweater down and start your baby knitting?  If you would, how would you “make” yourself pick the sweater back up?  What would you do to ensure you did?  How would you overcome the perpetual WiP problem?  Or do you not have that problem?

I so have that problem.  As a matter of fact, just today I threw away a boatload of squares for an afghan that I started years ago.  They were taking up almost an entire drawer in my dresser and I really needed the room!  It was sad, yet liberating to throw them out.  I no longer will look at them and feel pressure to finish even if I don’t want to!

Temptation

When I determined to be more disciplined in my knitting and to cut back on the number of active projects, I had to put down a few things.  One of them has been calling to me!  I am designing/knitting a felted bag and I really want to work on it!

The truth is that I will be finished with the helmet liner soon and can pick it up then (instead of the baptismal garment) if I want to, but boy am I struggling to resist doing it NOW!

Another bit of temptation that I am fighting is a resolution that I did not write about here… that is to NOT purchase new yarn except for the yarn that I need for some sweaters that I have planned for this year.  Even after my IBOL donations, I still have a large stash and I could probably knit for hours and hours everyday this year and not exhaust the stash by year’s end. . .

. . . and now I see that Paton’s Classic Merino is on sale at Michael’s for only $4/skein ~ retail is about $7/skein.   This is my basic, everyday, go-to, worsted wool.  I use it for a lot of things.   Do you see my dilemma?  It’s almost half off!  How can I resist?  But I must try to.  I really must.  I’ll let you know how I do!  (btw, Lion Brand’s Fisherman’s yarn is also on sale at Michael’s this week for $7/(large!) skein, normal retail is $10/skein.  This is the yarn I am using for [some of] the sweaters I have planned this year.  I am going to get 3 of those, as they qualify as a “justified” purchase.)

I guess that now is as good a time as any to see how I handle the temptation to purchase yarn I don’t need and to knit too many projects at once.  Hopefully, I can pass the “test” at least for today.  I’ll deal with tomorrow when it’s tomorrow. 🙂