Undisciplined

I have nothing to knit.

Other than a sweater, a sock (almost done!), various "hibernating" projects, and a colorwork hat. I was going to add the Jimmy Beans KAL mystery item, but it turns out I have to wait until tomorrow for the next clue, so I really can't knit that.

I guess the real problem is that I have nothing I want to knit. Nothing that's cast on anyway. And I'm very strictly trying to finish things, and casting on something new is not conducive to finishing old, BORING things. (They're not really boring. They're just not exciting right now. Even though I only have like 24 more rows left on that sock... I should really work on it.)

It's just, I got a pile of yarn in the mail, and the cowl pattern I ordered those for was free... and I saw a beautiful shawl pattern online the other day, and translated it from Portuguese with a lot of guess work, and now I want to see how that's going to work out... And I may or may not have accidentally purchased some yarn for that shawl when I was buying sock blockers for these socks of mine.

Oops. But I couldn't resist! It's merino/silk and it's such a summery color. Admittedly, this picture sucks. I blame the sun (or I would, if I weren't so thoroughly enjoying the sun).

So, I'm definitely not going to cast on a whole bunch of other projects, I'm going to behave and work on things that I've already got cast on.

Oops. That's the Uno, Dos, Tres cowl from Jimmy Beans. I'm currently enjoying the half-linen stitch pattern, but I'm sure it'll get on my nerves soon enough.









Don't look at me like that. I couldn't stop myself.

Deep Breaths

Folks, it has been a whirl-wind month for me here. I've been traveling, planning a party, going to work, doing homework (kind of... not always), and trying to make time to sleep and eat at regular times. Sometimes there's not enough hours in the day. But I still made time to make things!

I'm making my mommy some socks for Mother's Day, and I've finished one and a half so far! I'm only aiming for 2, so there's a pretty good chance she'll actually get a pair, which I think is a good goal. I discovered today that I was supposed to put the pattern on the back of the leg after the heel... too late now! This is a horrible picture, but I think the yarn is too dark to photograph well. I'll try harder when the pair is finished. I may need to go buy some sock blockers.

I'm participating in the Jimmy Beans KAL this month, which is a mystery KAL, so I have no idea what it's going to be. The clue this week is really strange and I haven't finished it yet, so this is a picture of where I left off last week. The colors look nice, I think. I guess I'll just keep hoping it turns into something I want to wear/use.







I've also been trying to use up ALL of my fiber from last year's Wool Market. I know this year's Wool Market isn't until June, but I figure I'm going to need all the help I can get to make this goal, so I pulled out the 8 oz of alpaca that I purchased last year, because it's the largest bunch I have to spin.

It started out looking like 2 very large balls of sliver. They turned out to have a lot of VM in them, so I don't think I'll be getting any of this stuff this year, but it's always nice to find out what you do and don't want.

I spun 3/4 of the sliver into singles, despite the VM. They're a very pretty color, I must say.

And I've plied approximately 4 oz of the singles into a VERY fuzzy 2 ply. If I wash it and the VM comes out, this could turn into something nice and soft. Not sure what, yet.









Apparently to make up for the fact that I've been busy and going out of my mind over a certain BRIDAL SHOWER BONANZA weekend, I've purchased a large amount of yarn for cowls. It's really not my fault, I ended up browsing Jimmy Beans because of an email they sent me, and there was a free cowl pattern that looked really pretty, and a bunch of kits they recommended and... well, I bought the yarn, not in kits, but one of each color.

Looks like EVERYONE is getting a cowl for whatever occasion arises next. At least the colors are pretty? I might need some more of the white, though. I'll wait until the first of the month, though. It's gonna be awesome. Ish.

And then I went and visited Caitlin, and she gave me a little bit of a yarn tour near her house (we got lost looking for a yarn store that may or may not have been hosted out of someone's house. We really don't know, cuz we didn't stop, we just kept driving.), and I fell down when I encountered Three Irish Girls in person. The colors were awesome and we're lucky I escaped with only 4 skeins of the stuff.

I'd blame Caitlin for allowing me to go crazy, but we all know that there's no way she could have stopped me. At least I escaped unscathed from the quilting store we visited.

I also worked on a sweater all last weekend, but it's in the other room and it's not going to photograph well right now. Suffice to say I made an impressive amount of progress, but not quite enough to allow me to wear a new sweater during the CRAZY weather we're having.

In future, I would like to avoid all this craziness. However, being realistic, knowing myself as I do... it's not gonna happen. We'll just leave it at that.

Whoops!

Where did March go? I'm serious, it just flew by and now I'm into crunch time. Weddings, pre-wedding events, friends visiting, going to visit friends, oh! and I should really do my homework. And, of course, the day-to-day grind of going to work and actually getting stuff done. Yikes. There's not enough time in the day.

I'm working on breathing deeply (it's hard to do, I've got a cold) and trying to take things one at a time. I should really quit looking at the big picture. It's overwhelming.

Let's look at something I've gotten done, so I can feel accomplished!

I finally found the wherewithal to complete the sleeves! And the sweater is lovely, but taking a picture of myself wearing it has proven unsuccessful so far. This is why I need a roommate.

Oh, and I also finished some fingerless gloves. The sweater was giving me such a finishing high that I decided to start finishing my other stuff. Like the two (two!) colorwork projects I cast on in a fit of startitis. This pair have been languishing for a month or more since I lost interest after finishing the first glove. They're pretty, but I don't like them very much. No more colorwork fingerless gloves for me!







I wish I had some pictures of the fiber from last time, cuz I finished spinning it and it's lovely, but I was cleaning up my house and had to put things away, and I may have put the spun fiber into the homespun box without taking pictures first. I know, I know, tactical error. Let's talk instead, about the fact that I joined a fiber club despite the fact that it's patently obvious that the last thing I need is new fiber to arrive on a monthly basis. And I've got 2 months worth of fiber hanging out in the fiber stash looking at me in a guilt-inducing manner.

This is the most recent batch, although it's actually only half of the batch, because I'm awesome at taking pictures beforehand, right? Anyway, it's BFL roving, and I'm not doing a very good job with it, but it's very pretty and I think I'm going to navajo ply the singles, so the color changes stay nice.

See? Very pretty singles. I like them, although I wish I'd taken more time while spinning. I think I was really in a rush earlier when I was spinning. I'll take more time on the second half and see if I like the fiber better.









One thing at a time, guys. One thing at a time. I'll work on breathing instead of freaking out on a regular basis about my schedule for the next month.