Boredom

So, looking back over the posts in this blog, you might get the idea that I'm the kind of knitter who works on one project at a time, finishes the project and then moves on to the next. Nothing could be further from the truth. Depending on the project and the deadline (self-imposed or otherwise), I can work on one project until it's done. But mostly, I have enough projects cast on so that I can knit through any mood.

I've got a lace project (I tried to start a second one today, it didn't work out) to work on when I have lots of concentration or feel like working on something difficult, I have a little project (or two, or three) for when I need something that I can see real progress on and can bring it with me, if I'm going somewhere. And I have a really plain project, for those times that I feel like doing something that doesn't take much thought. These projects are not, by any means, the only projects I have cast on at the same time. They're just a general accounting of what kind of projects I have and why.

Right now, for instance, I have a lace project that I'm dragging my feet on because I'm a little intimidated by the border, even though I'm sure it will be pretty. Lace can be pretty discouraging, though. Because it mostly looks like crap before you block it, and you don't make much progress per row. And, let's face it, because I don't have much practice at knitting on a border.







Then I have my pair of socks. I recently got a little carried away with purchasing yarn for pairs of socks that I would conceivably want to knit. So I'm going to have a sock on the go for the next little while, until the sock to-do list is a little smaller. Usually my choice for this type of project is actually a fingerless mitt. It drives people nuts. They don't understand how wonderful fgs are. Anyway, it's a nice sock, but the effects of SSS can be felt even now. I'm a little fatigued with the little bugger. Not that the pattern isn't charming (I picked the stitch pattern myself), not that it doesn't go quickly (it's worsted weight yarn on size 4 needles, it knits up like lightning!), just that I kind of have a need for new knitting things in my life.

That need for newness makes really large projects, like the melonstrosity very difficult. You haven't met the melonstrosity yet. It's a blanket, made out of Caron Simply Soft. It's luscious and pretty and I like the colors. It's pretty simple, since the only patterning is k10, p10 on the wrong side rows. However, the important characteristic of this project is that it's HUGE. As in, 380 stitches across. And, as near as my calculations can get me, I'm only about halfway done. Yep. I've been working on it since March. Pretty good stuff. I'll try to post a better picture one of these days, when I find a way to do justice to its enormity.





I've also got another of the chunky, lovely scarves for my sister's boyfriend. He's lovely. Ask anyone who has met him. His birthday is coming up, and we (Abby, boyfriend and myself) were talking about scarves a while ago. I don't remember how it came up, just that it did and I promised him I'd make him a lovely scarf, knit with my own two hands. It's going pretty quick, and I like the colors. Aside from the fact that I have to carry strands of two of the colors up 6 rows of color changes... let's not talk about that part. Not pictured because it's in the dining room and I don't feel like going, digging it up and taking a picture of it.

Then I have the start of a tunic in chunky weight yarn, which I cast on in July because I was so excited that Caitlin gave me the pattern for my birthday. Unfortunately, the tunic takes the same size needles as the melonstrosity and so the choice is either to work on one thing or the other and switch the needles back and forth, as the mood takes me. It hasn't seen much work since the epic 9 day road trip to Hades. No picture because it's in my knitting bag and I don't feel like pulling it out. It'll make me feel guilty.

And then there's the Runcorn. It's a sweater. And it's lovely, even if I find the condensed version of all of the instructions a bit confusing and frustrating. It's really a nice sweater, and I think I'm going to love it. Caitlin and I even found some buttons that match our chosen colors perfectly. Which was totally random, but obviously it was meant to be!








Anyway, those are my projects, in the interest of full disclosure about my inability to knit all the way through a single project without even little breaks to knit other things. It doesn't make me a bad person, just means that I need a lot more sets of knitting needles. And rules about how many things I can have cast on at once.

PS. If the pictures suck, it's cuz I took them with my iPod. My camera is in my purse, in the kitchen. Again, laziness overpowers need for pictures.