Monday, December 16, 2013

Knitting Again

I've gotten back into knitting full force once again. I do seem to be struggling to keep up with it, but I think I've been able to determine the cause of that - and it was quite simply, a lifestyle that was too busy to allow me time to do so.  While for quite some time, that focus on other things was pleasing to me, I have since determined that I just don't have the interest in all that other stuff anymore.  Perhaps its growing up, perhaps it's the forced changes in my life, but nevertheless I have moved on.  It was a conscious decision - I wanted to focus less on roleplaying fantasy games with people I only partially enjoyed, and wanted to focus more on myself (and my husband).  I wanted to focus on my spirituality again, as well as focus on knitting again.  So, here I am, refocusing.

Since I made this decision, I have nearly finished this scarf:


I took it on a plane with me to visit my family for my grandmother's 100th birthday. And during the day I was there, and the two 1-hr plane trips, I got about this much done of it.  I have since about tripled it's length as shown in this picture.  I think I have two skeins left of the yarn to add to it (having gone through four so far).  And having done that much of it.. this scarf has hit the "okay, bored with this single project, need to add a few more" syndrome.  I just simply don't do well with only a single project at a time. Project # 1.

Oh, I also made Ryan two hats during this time.  They look like this one, but in black and brown.  He wears them ALL THE TIME.  :D


I then decided I needed to go through my stash of yarn and determine what all I had and what I should make with all of it.  I've got a three-drawer cabinet stuffed full of yarn, and while I probably had plans for it all two years ago, I've since lost track of most of those plans.  Soooo.. it's pattern shopping time :)  I updated my stash on ravelry to make sure I had accurate record of all of my yarns, then went searching.  I have two yarns in my stash that I *desperately* wanted to use, because they are just so beautiful they need to be used.  One was a malabrigo lace yarn in tonal greens called verdes.  It's lace and I've got about 1400 yards of it, so it's gotta be made into something big and shawl-like.  The other is a blue-variegated berocco worsted weight.  

I'm still looking for something to make with the berocco, but the verdes.. i found the perfect shawl.  It's a HUGE semi-circular shawl called "In Dreams".  It also uses beading.  I could ignore the beading, but I've been wanting to learn the technique of adding beads, and I really really like how they are used on this shawl - so I'm going to dive in and learn.  Of course, it uses something like.. 5000 beads... so by "dive in" i mean.. dive in head first into a strong current with a waterfall on the horizon >____>.  But I've never been one to shy away from challenges.  I think I do better with those situations anyway. Project # 2.

Well, while knowing this pattern was going to be my next "Big project", apparently just adding that one project to my queue wasn't enough.  I also started digging through my knitting bag to determine what i was working on some year or more ago.  Two projects started:  a red dancing cranes scarf, and a sweater for Lizard, our puggle.  While the red dancing cranes scarf does need finishing and it is pretty, I'm already working on a scarf as well as starting a lace project, so that one can sit a little longer.  But Lizzy's dog sweater really should be finished.  So I pulled it out to start it up again.  Ryan wrinkled his nose, though, when I showed it to him.. he didn't think it looked girly at all, and would just look wrong on the poor girl dog.  I asked if he'd rather I start it over with a pink yarn instead, and he agreed.  Yay! Permission to go yarn shopping!  It took me a while to find the time to hit the LYS, but I eventually did, grabbing some Ella Rae superwash wool.  It's a lovely light rose color that'll make a really pretty sweater.  Project # 3.

But even that isn't enough.  Because with our last week of work before the holidays upon us, I realized I really really wanted to make a coworker a pair of fingerless gloves.  She's been super kind to me all year, and I want to show my appreciation.  And.. she's often cold in the office - soo, perfect gift.  I did some yarn store hopping this past Saturday, and while I was at one of the new ones I'd never visited before, I picked up some beautiful variegated madelinetosh in a color I think she'll like.  I spent all afternoon Saturday and much of Sunday finishing one of those gloves.  Ryan had suggested I work on her gloves first, because they were the only one that had a "deadline" (Lizzy won't have any idea which day is actually gift-giving day, so she won't mind if it's a few days late).  I had wanted to get farther on them, but I tried a new bindoff method for the ribbing that took me a try or two to nail down.  So for now - I just have the one done, and the second cast on.  Project # 4.

Heheh, so I'm a bit ambitious.  But it's energizing to know I've got such great beautiful projects just waiting to jump onto my needles and soar into their beautiful finished state.  Plus, having multiple projects means I can switch between them when I get bored with one or the other.  Both Lizzy's sweater and the almost-done-scarf will likely be welcome relaxing projects to give my hands (and brain) a rest from the massive In Dreams beaded shawl.  AND I have plenty to work on over the coming holiday break (during which we aren't traveling anywhere!).  

1 comment:

  1. So glad to see you back on the blog. All your projects sound really fun. I am looking forward to seeing them.

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