Now with actual knitting

I know for a person that has a knitting blog, the knitting is quite absent at times. In between worrying about Gus I knit lots of things. I even occasionally finish things too, but more often I seem to be starting things.

I have a new pair of favorite socks from Icelandic sock yarn. They are a tad big now but I am hoping they do what the other socks did and felt a bit. Either way I'm sure I'll love them too. In fact I'm wearing them now.

D's socks seem to be taking some hits. D is wearing a pair for the last time today. I was going to repair them, but the yarn is just too thin. So he'll just have to settle for new ones, it is not like he is married to a happy sock knitting machine.

Since he likes some funky socks from time to time, I'm knitting these too.

And since I finished a sweater just in time to warm up the weather, I cast on another one. This yarn started out as a sweater knit in pieces, but I am still not comfortable investing that much time into something that may not fit me. At the time I was knitting it I was gaining weigh so I just did not want to be disappointed.

Since then I've had some help and figured out how to read the patterns in Ann Budd's Top Down Sweater book. I decided to tackle a saddle shoulder sweater this time. Hopefully this winter I will have an understanding of  three different ways of knitting sweaters. Maybe I can churn out a few before it gets cold. What? I can alway hope I will be a better person and have winter knits, knit before winter.

Not pictured is a pretty pair of socks for me that are in the second sock stage. They're a bit more complicated than my normal plain jane socks, thus they're taking a bit more time. But I'm not needing more socks as much as other feet in the house. 

Oh excuse me the timer just went off on my Blueberry Buckle. I hope it turns out good.

Raspberry Moose Socks

After hemming and hawing around I burrowed deep into my stash and heard the call of the Raspberry Moose.

I picked up this skein of Socks That Rock at Rhinebeck (where else?) in 2011. Take that three year old stash! Ahem, dealing with three year olds can be a bit trying. Luckily for me I had let this yarn and myself marinate for just the right amount of time. 

We have agreed that we would like to finally knit the Nemesis Socks. 

Things are moving along quite nicely, I have 3/4 of the pattern repeat done. Oddly enough the yarn looks more tan than lilac while I am knitting with it.

I am trying to knit more patterned socks with the solid and semisolid yarns that I have. Partly because that is one of the reasons I bought them. And partly because I need some fancier socks to show off my knitting skills. I love plain knit brightly colored socks but knitting fancier socks does not take as long as I think it does. It seems like I can whip out a pair of plain socks rather quickly but the patterned socks only stay on the needles an extra month or so. I am just so much of a product knitter that I get wound up that last month.

Really I've just been distracting myself from the urge to buy sweater yarn. I am wearing the same three or four sweaters every week. The weather had been so cold I was unwilling to go without them.

I believe I have figured out what to do on my first set in sleeve sweater so I can get moving on that one too. I've been telling myself I need to finish that one before I can start the next one, but I always have more than one pair of socks on the needles. Why not more than one sweater? An Arctic blast enveloping the country is just enough to make a knitter's fingers twitch.

See you at the yarn shop tomorrow?

Yep

Did you ever notice how much more knitting you get done when you don't waste time on other things? You know like blogging or housework.

My Wild Apple Hill Farm sweater is moving along. I like the cables I chose to go down the arms. It is now in the really awkward stage that every top down raglan sweater goes through. It looks like a wooly version of an eighty's cropped quarterback shirt. Not a good look for a sweater I can assure you. Now I am debating continuing down the body section then knitting the sleeves or knitting one of the sleeves then the body then another sleeve. You see I suffer from a different kind of SSS. SSS is commonly known in the knitting world as Second Sock Syndrome, many people get bored making an item for the second time in a row. You know me I can make sock after sock after sock........ Occasionally I get to change up the colors but essentially I knit the same sock over and over.

Sleeves on the other hand I hate. I know, why hate a sleeve? I don't get it, but it was a revelation to me when I figured it out. I hate the second sleeve! I don't much like the first sleeve either but the second one just torques my cookies. Maybe I should just start adding heel flaps in where my elbows are and that would solve everything.

I bought myself a new toy that will either increase my knitting time or cut into it severely, a Kindle. I have been hemming and hawing for a while. The decision was made once I realized I did not have to try to hold a paperback open while attempting to knit at lunch time. I tried it out today, the Kindle lies flat and all I have to do is tap to turn a page. I'm still going to be hitting the library used book sale for my romance novels, but it is nice to have an option. I'm sure packing books for trips will be easier too.

I received my February sock club yarn from Sweetgeorgia too. I'm thinking of making a small shawl or scarf with it since it is 50% silk. Pictures will follow when I can get them.

I did a little research on what I knit last year and found I made myself 16 pairs of socks. That is better than a pair a month which surprised me. I also made three pairs for D. All I can say is at least he got a few pairs. In my defense he has bigger feet than me, not a 16 vs 3 size difference but still, I tried.

I can hear my sweater calling me so I'll be knitting on that this evening. Happy Knitting!

Round One

It is that time of year again the the blog suffers for its pictures. I will have to talk my professional...something guy into taking a couple more since I have a new hat but I think the photos are doomed to be a weekend only activity again this winter.

So what does Round One have to do with anything? I am fighting myself again. Sometimes knitting will make us do strange things. I want to knit a sweater since it is turning cold here. The problem? I've been "knitting" a sweater since early this year. In this case "knitting" means it has had parts that have been done for a bit while the rest of the sweater is still yarn. I have not touched it in months. Bad knitter.

Remember what it looked like? Yeah me neither. Well that is not true since I've been walking around with a mental image of it since I started it. And I have been continually taunted by Kisknit's various progress posts, including one that roughly said "I can't wait for the weather to cool down so I can wear my new perfectly fitting, beautiful, gorgeous, awesome sweater."

OK she really did not say that but it sounded a lot like that through my guilt ridden ears. Self applied guilt is so much more stupid. Somewhere along the line I convinced myself it is hard to make a sweater in pieces. It may be harder for me since I am a project knitter that only sees the pieces not the finished sweater. I still even have the back blocked and put away in the closet so I can not mess it up.

Now that looks like it could be part of a sweater at least. The worst thing is once I finish it (yes that really is going to happen) I know I will love it and never want to take it off. If that is true why am I dreaming about this yarn?

It keeps telling me that I could have a new, no problems, no guilt sweater, in a month. It has read my blog, it knows I am capable. If only I wound it up and put aside the socks for a bit. If only.

But I am a good girl, I already pulled out the guilt, I mean green sweater and am planning my attack. I think instead of working on something I've been knitting on, I should just start a new area like one of the front sides. You know something fresh that I have not already dwelt on a few times.

So all you knitters out there give your yarn a bit of a pat for me to have some good luck, this sweater may just need a bit of it.

So Here's the Thing

I have been racing to get done what needs to be done for my sweater class tonight. I needed a sleeve, the back and the right front. They were supposed to be washed and blocked. I did not make it. Two out of three is not bad but, I feel a bit like I failed an exam in school. But I know it is all in my head.

I know that the knitting police will not come and fine me for not finishing. My life is not any better or worse because I did not meet this deadline. But I am still a bit bummed about it.

However I can now admit to feeling less self imposed stress. I feel that I can rip back some of what I have done and do it correctly now. I think all the newness involved with this project hit me at one time and caused me to feel inadequate.

I don't like feeling inadequate! I know that I can knit this sweater and I know that I will love it when it is done. I know that I will feel extremely proud of it. But right now it just feels all wrong. I think I am knitting a size that will be too small for me. I had been fighting the thought since I started it, but was unwilling to admit it. On the bonus side I have an estimate on what yarn I used so far and think the odds of me running out now are not that great, even in a larger size. (Famous last words?)

I remember seeing a woman at Rhinebeck a few years back wearing a sweater that was several sizes too small for her. It was almost as if an adult tried to fit in a child's sweater. The front did not come past her sides and I think her arms were bowed back by the sleeves even. It was a beautiful cabled cardigan sweater. I am still sad thinking that she did not have friends to tell her how ridiculous it looked. I have a feeling that she was so proud of her work that she just could not send it away to the home it deserved. We all want to show off our work at festivals and our yarn shops, but someone needs to stand up and say  "Oh honey, I know your proud but that is all wrong!"

I feel I must point out that this little introvert here is not willing to do that job either. Yes, I do know that I am a chicken. But I did have the nerve to say it to myself and that is why I am starting over. I can do it!

By the way I still totally recommend the class and will be using what I learned to finish this sweater and many more. I now have more skills in the knitting bag in my head and am ready to start applying them.