A confession

I recently took up several scarf projects.

Three scarves of the same pattern, same needle size, and in the same color but different yarn (so not *really* the same color, but still...).
I am done with one, half way on the other and have already wound the skeins for the third.

This project, which has the side benefit of showing off how different yarns handle cables, is so that I can having something to work on at work. The shawl I am working on has reached a point in the pattern that interruptions by customers could have a dangerous outcome. Not that I have been knitting the shawl at home either. I figure I just need a little break before tackling the next section which has nubs (a new technique for me).

During all of this, I decided I should make a scarf for an old friend. You know, a light something to knit when watching TV, because the shawl needs no distractions, you see. So I asked him what his favorite color was. I picked a super simple pattern that had a great texture and would be just fine for a guy. Then I settled on a yarn from my stash, because knitting from stash is very important and makes any project justifiable.

It is a very nice yarn. Soft and thick with layers of color qualities! Absolutely gorgeous! I had two skeins in the requested blue, two in brick red and two in bright red. In two days I knit up the scarf. It is perfect. The pattern, with one adjustment for knitting without turning, came out even better than I could have hoped for in this fluffy yarn. The scarf has already received acclaim for those who have come in contact with it. This scarf is everything one could love about a non-lace scarf.

Well, almost everything. The one thing it is not, is mine.

I have already promised it out. It ships this weekend. Soon it will travel 1500 miles away and hopefully be appreciated and not regifted. (I will hunt him down and do serious damage to him if this scarf ends up in the possession of another.)

So now I have four skeins of this yarn in colors I dare not wear. They can not fix this problem.

There is a fix though. A very simple one. One that even comes with a bonus of the words "SALE"......

So yeah. Yarn diet? That was so last year.... right?

Secrets to a happy knitter

I recently had the opportunity to become an ecstatic knitter.

Way back in May of 2008 I happened across a large selection of Berroco Chinchilla yarn in several corresponding colors. Some months I got a long US 13 circular needle and eventually cast on a project named the Autumn Blanket. Also known as the Wavey Throw and often called 'oh, yeah, I had forgotten you'.

After three long years of knitting and storing and then knitting some more, I finally finished it! In fact, it was January 9th that the cast off occurred. I had started taking the blanket to work (as it has been very slow lately) and after a few days of nearly eight hour shifts I made it through the last few skeins.

I have not taken any new pictures of it and it really needs a gentle washing, but that can wait. It waited this long just to be off the needles, it can wait a bit more before it is really presentable.

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In other news, I have some projects I will be posting the patterns to soon. There will be a cabled scarf pattern and a knapsack. Of course they will be entered in Ravelry as well, for easy downloading of PDFs.

See, I still make plans for the blog. I just am slow about getting them going.....

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Next week the local Knitting Meetup group is having a Spin In meeting. I will be taking my lovely travel wheel and attending. This will be fun as I haven't really played with my spinning wheel in a while. I got a bit discouraged by the speed/thickness issue. I have enough fiber that the willingness to be daring should be present, and yet I am treating it as if it were a special skien of yarn that I don't want to touch until I know what I am doing.
Spinning does not really work that way. I know I must practice or I will not get anywhere with it. So this next meetup will be the perfect chance for me to do just that!

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I am down to one UFO right now, which is the shawl. The weather has started to show signs of warming up, which means lace knitting will be where I will be focusing again. Of course, the fact that I have been knitting two other projects that are using worsted and super-bulky yarns respectively will also help. I think I will have the shawl wrapped up before mid-summer!

After that I can start a whole new set of long term projects.... or I can try to keep my knitting to more manageable arrangements. We shall see, we shall see.