on finishing things i begin

i have this little problem. i have a hard time finishing things. call it boredom, call it some form of attention deficit disorder, call it too many ideas that never happen. it happens a lot. it is nothing new, it has happened my entire life. i think i was the only kid i knew who actually quit 7 different sports as a child. that's right. 7. and not just give it a go and then you never really get into doing it. i am talking a usual mid-season quit of an organized team sport.

nowadays this problem mostly rears its ugly head in my handcrafted endeavors. this is evidenced by the vast amount of hibernating projects on my ravelry project page. have i mentioned that there are at least 4 or 5 other projects lying around that aren't even up there yet? no? odd. the usual culprit of ennui is that there is some sort of major blunder that stops me in my tracks like running out of yarn, something clearly is not going to be the correct size or the classic one sock syndrome. let's just say that recently i have been cursed by the knitting gods. i'm not even going to get into my sewing misadventures right now, that will have to wait for another post.

so i am moving cross-country at the end of this month and i am trying to get organized and clear some of these projects out of their state of incompleteness and actually get some finished objects to be proud of. hopefully this will get me blogging again (yet another victim). here's the progress i have done so far over this past week.


a market bag i quit on in may because i ran out of yarn [ravelry]
rutabaga, knit scene spring 2007
2 skeins blue sky alpacas organic cotton in a yummy grass green color



i also cast off for a very special shawl which has actually gone without a hitch. when i received the june 2008 winter mailing of sundara's season club i immediately dropped my other projects and cast on for a stole for my sister. it just needs blocking now, but i think i will do that after the move. i conveniently noticed is something blue while i was finishing it. [ravelry]
japanese feather stole, knitspot.com
sundara silk lace, granite falls colorway, seasons club june 2008 winter mailing



i also finished a second sock! i just did the tops to anna bell's giotto pattern because i wasnt such a fan of the main stitch pattern. the color is very difficult to capture but is a very yummy purpley-pink. the name says it all. they will be very comfy wear-around-the-house socks. [ravelry]
giotto, anna bell
mama blue bfl sock yarn, preserves


and now for the project i am currently working on, bottoms up by alice bell. (any relation to anna? probably not.)

i am loving this pattern and loving the louet euroflax so much that i have already bought more for my next project. i hope to be done with this project by the end of the week if all goes well! [ravelry]

my personal contribution to the tanking economy

April has been a month of some serious stash building for no particular reason. I really don't know what's come over me, perhaps I have just been in need of some color therapy. I am happy to report that all of this yarn you are about to see has a specific project in mind. Now the time has come to confess.

First, I bought 3 beautiful skeins of Simple BFL sock yarn from MamaBlue. I didn't intend to only try one type of her yarn on my first go, I just really liked these 3 particular colors.

Preserves

Cabbage

Beekeeper

I also received an order from kpixie.com.

8 skeins AllHemp6 in Raspberry

and 3 skeins Louet Euroflax Sportweight in Champagne.

To continue the insanity, I also bought

two skeins of Louet Gems sock yarn in Crabapple and Pewter

and 8 skeins of Rowan Purelife in Logwood and Lipstick Tree from yarnzilla.com. I have to say I am most excited by the Purelife because it is organic cotton that is dyed with plant derived colors.

And because all of this would not be enough, I also signed up for not one but TWO subscriptions of the next round of Sundara's Seasons club simply because I could not decide which color group to choose. Today, I received my final mailing for this round, 3 skeins of Aran Silky Merino in Ruby Port. The color for this round is my favorite of the group by far.


I also have a little FO to share.

I actually managed to get over the one sock slump and immediately make the second! Burning Rings of Fire pattern by Through the Loops! in Sundara sock yarn in Bronzed Forest. (Ravelry) They are a simple, quick sock and I highly recommend them. Especially if you are like me and just need to knit something that you KNOW will turn out just right without having to think about it!

any news?

So my sister just called to tell me she got engaged this afternoon. Which is great, I am really happy for her and her boyfriend. As the conversation is coming to an end, she asks the inevitable 'So do you have any news?'. Me: 'Uhhhhh....You know that project I was working on over Christmas? I finished it yesterday!' Yes, my life is just as exciting. I will tell my sister about the blog later, I don't think she can take too much in one day.



More images and project info here. I made it with the Copper over Bamboo Sundara Silk Lace I received in December from the Seasons club. The pattern is from Pink Lemon Twist. I followed her instructions for knitting all cherry blossoms, omitting the basketweave pattern and thus the beaded cast-on. The first half I completed, I knit the ruffle but ended up ripping it because I just couldn't commit to it. It is from It was my first project with laceweight so I learned a lot along the way. (Like the thickness of your stitch markers DOES matter...) I really love the final product and plan to use is more as a scarf than a stole.

i can blog too

So I have started this blog. I make stuff. Mostly knitting. Yeah.