A One Project Phase

Well, Laminaria is finished.

So is a pair of Fargyles.

So is a Citron.

The latter two were quick projects, completed on two consecutive weekends, about four or five days of knitting a piece, the first two November weekends.

But the project monogamy doesn't last with me. No, not at all.

I started, inspired by IntSweMoDoDe, a Honeycomb vest, and have finished most of the back, but...

A top I am knitting "by the seat of my pants" (as Meg Swansen says in A Gathering of Lace of her daughter's wedding shawl) to wear to a Christmas party has intruded.

Also, I've pulled out some old sock projects that have never been finished, inspired by the chance sighting of the bag containing the other ball of Kaffe Fasette Regia.

Let's hope I can get my act together and not have so many unfinished projects on the needles by the time I head off to college next fall!

Oh, yes, and Happy Thanksgiving for those of you in the US!

Well, Hello There!

Oh, yes, I'm still around.
Did you think I'd forgotten that I had a blog?
Er... well, not exactly.

In any case, I'm posting largely to celebrate the fact that I have reached the 2/3 mark on my half-hex Laminaria.

I got the yarn about thirteen months ago, (as part of a shipment that pretty much established a laceweight stash. My stash otherwise is largely sock yarn...) and planned all along that Juniper Heather Shadow, three skeins, would become a half-hex version of Laminaria, which is one of my favorite shawl patterns. In fact, it is probably going to be perpetually in my queue, I'm just that fond of the blossom and star stitch combo. I've made it thrice, so far, although the third rendition is being bound off, and another exploded Lam is in progress.

And of course, as I reported last post... some three months past!--I started a KAL on Ravelry... well, everyone was supposed to start Aeolian in September. 'Tis October, and I am still finishing Laminaria. In justice, the potentially inadvisable half-hexing scheme ensured that I have approximately 1,000 stitches at this ultimate point!

The last bits of the edging have been a bit of a wrestle with Murphy's Law--do I have enough yarn? Do I have enough yarn? Sure I do--Are you sure you have enough yarn? You are double-stranding for the bindoff! Do I have enough yarn... I think so...

I have mused in previous posts about things I would like to make... I clearly dream big.

Well, right now, once I finish Laminaria, I suppose I'm going to cast on for Honeycomb, and once I finish my mini exploded Lam, I'll be switching out with the #6 tips and casting on for a Citron in Patons Lace...

I also have an exploded Aeolian on the needles, one that I don't mind the beading so terribly on.

Not to mention innumerable socks, and three lace projects that are... let me say... hibernating, and one that has been decidedly abandoned.

Oh, and I haven't mentioned that I discovered both the Laris Designs group and the IntSweMoDo group (The International Sweater-a-Month Dodecathlon), and thus I have been stalking beautiful gloves and sweaters... I think you know where this is going...

I am downright plagued by the fecundity of my inspiration!

As an aside, I would like to mention that the medium I've been writing a lot for lately has formatting such that there's line spacing between paragraphs vs. indentation, and it looks like that's almost automatic now for me... weird!

In any case, I actually held yarn in my hands earlier, considering a purchase for the Poet Pullover...

I do wish I could catch the apocryphal Finish-itis rather than being constantly plagued with its pestilent cousin Start-itis! I desperately need to.

Yes, I'm still around, and in a reflective mood

Well, a lot of things have been happening. The last part of last year was a difficult time for my family, and then the beginning of this year hasn't been great, either, as I got behind in my school work. But it is now exam week of my junior year of high school, so I only have one more year...!

Furthermore, I've published a few patterns on Ravelry and am thinking of submitting a few in other places, but we'll have to see...

I got a huge Knit Picks order a few weeks ago, with lots of Felici, and several kits, and I'm knitting my first Cookie A sock--the SKA May Mystery Sock.

It's kind of interesting that I haven't been blogging much; I remember when I first started, I just really really wanted to get my voice out there and say what I wanted to say about my knitting and crocheting... and now it's just not a big priority in my life...

This doesn't mean that I am totally stopping blogging, just that right now I don't see myself posting a lot more in the near future. But who knows what whim will take me?

I still have lots and lots and lots and lots of socks on the needles; since my last blog entry, for an English project after reading the Scarlet Letter, I came up with a couple sock designs, a mitt, and a headband. I started knitting Dimmesdale, and got part way down the cuff (haven't knitted on it since, though...), and I knitted the first Chillingworth mitt, but I may need to adjust the motif.

I also got most of the way through another Koolhaas in the same amazingly soft discontinued JoAnns and then couldn't find my dpns in the correct size, so I haven't finished it.

I also decided I would try to do the Knitter's Almanac year, similar to what Kelley Petkun did a couple years ago, but the April project didn't work out very well, and I haven't got any mittens on the needles (the May project), though I have yarn.

Why didn't April's Mystery Blanket work out well? Um, I think because I don't like knitting expanding squares (it works kind of like granny squares) on dpns, and possibly because my needles (ordinary aluminum dpns) were somewhat slippery. Maybe it'd work out better if I got wooden or bamboo needles, which I've used a time or two for shop samples.

Speaking of knitalongs and such, I've started a Elizabeth Freeman KAL on Ravelry. We'll make all three shawls : Laminaria, Aeolian, and Torreyana, and the schedule isn't set such that you're too limited with time. We start in June, so I need to wind my Shadow in Juniper. (not that posting here will serve as publicity)

I will likely have a busy summer, as this is my year to go on college trips to find out where I will end up going in 14 months or so. That's frankly just so shocking that... college is about 14 months, right round the corner. I still remember in elementary school thinking that the high school kids were so old and I'd never be there... and here I am. It doesn't help that I skipped a grade and haven't got my driving permit yet either. (although I've only been eligible for 6 months) Not that I feel out of place with my classmates, I'm just younger...

In any case, here's hoping you have a gorgeous summer full of knitting and crocheting!