Executive Decisions

Dear Cynthia,

WOW! Thank you for sharing "part one" of your stash. I will keep that particular post handy in the event my dh ever mentions that I might possibly have too much yarn, though that has never happened. I think I'm harder on myself than he is when it comes to yarn purchases.

The waiting room socks are almost completed; just a toe to kichener, and that will be it. My stitch markers are still in the second sock. They are spaced every ten rows. It makes it easier for me to count the rows as I go, and I don't have to worry about updating a piece of paper or something. Counting rows might be a little bit on the verge of insanity, but trust me; it would drive me even more insane if I thought there was even a possibility that a matching pair of socks were really different in length by a quarter inch just because one of them had an extra row or two in it.

Work continues on the green cardigan, knit using Blackberry Ridge Nubby Wool, which I am really enjoying. It is a bit of a dense yarn, bulky weight, and having just a little texture to it. I am designing the sweater as I go. Here is a shot of the collar and part of the front opening. It will have a zipped front. It is a very basic sweater, knit in one piece, having indented (square) armholes. All that remains are the sleeves, which will be picked up and knit from the armholes, but I have to sit down and do the math for them, and the spirit hasn't moved me yet. Besides, I had some new sock yarn calling out to me.....

The third time is the charm with this one. I was going to make Jaywalkers, but since I'm using size 2's instead of 1's, I decided to cast on only 68 stitches. After a few rounds, I was noticing that the very thin stripes weren't quite making it all the way around, and so a dark blue vertical stripe was emerging along the back of the sock. So, I decided to try again, with fewer stitches. With only 60 stitches, and an inch or so into the zig zag pattern, it seemed as though the sock might be too small. And, as the Yarn Harlot commented about yesterday, it just wasn't very elastic, either. So, I frogged back to the ribbing and decided to just do a plain stockinette sock. I'm really liking the little stripes! And, it's the perfect mindless project.

I feel better after delving into my stash of works in progress and yarn through my true confessions here on the blog during my last few posts. It's not as bad as I thought it was, so I'm making some executive decisions here. First, the cotton sweater has to wait until summer. I just can't bring myself to knit cotton when we have fresh snow on the ground today. Second, the Christmas stocking will have to wait until fall, when it will be much more seasonal knitting. It seems I have no choice but to get going on my new shawl, so that I have a complicated, technical project to go along with the other two basically stockinette items. It's all about personal growth, yeah, that's it, and making sure that I *always* have something with new challenges to turn to in my knitting when it is quiet in the house (okay, that would probably be the middle of the night, but what a great time to knit something complicated, right?) And so, though I won't be finishing all of my works-in-progress before starting something new, I now have a plan for getting them all done, which is more than I had a month ago.....

Warm regards,
Laura (aka YarnThrower)