Knowing when to cut and run

Last January I started Wabenschal, a hexagonal lace scarf. I was itchy to start something new for the new year. Against my better judgment, that loud voice in my head that gets pillows thrown at it, I started this instead of plugging away at my ocean waves scarf which is still unfinished at the time of this post. I only worked on Wabenschal while knitting with others, and I think I should have spent some time by myself getting to know the chart and the pattern. It was my first attempt at using a chart for any kind of knitting instead of following the written instructions, or creating written instructions from the chart.

I bought the yarn, Patons Lacette, on clearance for $.50 a skein, and I can see why. In the skein it's very soft - you can feel the mohair content. Knit up it feels like baling twine. Maybe once it's blocked it will soften up and show off the stitch pattern better.I don't know if this yarn and pattern combination is working. I haven't worked on this project in a year, and I can't decide whether to scrap what I've done and put the pattern back in my binder for future use, or to start up again with it. At this point the work I've done is about as large as a swatch. Maybe I'll bind off, block it, and use it as a reference when I start the pattern again. It's another one of those lurker projects, taking up space on my shelf, my Ravelry list, and my mind.

I don't want to abandon my work. It always makes me feel like a bit of a failure, even though it's just a knitting project. I expect myself to start and finish everything with perfection! Is that so difficult? How do I know when it's time to throw in the towel?


My project link Wabenschal in Maroon Mist

P.S. I broke down and bought size 8 straight needles two weeks ago after what I thought was a thorough search of my apartment. I determined that yes, remember, I lent this pair of needles to someone two years ago and never got them back. And didn't buy replacements. So, I picked up another pair at Windsor Button, even though I prefer the Boye straight needles purely for the thumbtack like end. The pair I bought at Windsor are by Susan Bates. They are a lovely blue but have a pinched, flattened end which I don't find aesthetically pleasing. It turns out that this Wabenshal is parked on my size 8 needles!

Baby Sizing

It's that time again, time to put the pedal to the metal and crank out some baby things for a shower. How do these things creep up on me? My friend Mary made a special request for purple booties and I am happy to oblige, but of course I can't just make booties, I need to make a hat too! I've known about this since sometime in the fall, and Mary is due in April, so I had plenty of time. I made a winter hat for myself, the Cabled Chapeau (which you will see a finished picture of soon), worked on some other unfinished projects, and started but didn't finish a scarf for my sister's birthday in December. I wanted to finish the scarf before starting the baby things, but now I'm getting down to the wire.

Mary's baby shower is March 5th so I need to mail the gift by March 1st. That's two weeks from today! Now if I could just get knitting...though that hasn't been the problem. The problem is size.

I picked out the patterns months ago, bought the yarn a few weeks ago, but didn't sit down and read through everything until I was ready to start. Common mistake. I bought Plymouth Encore in worsted, but the Etanapipa snail hat calls for bulky, and Saartje's Bootees call for fingering weight. Ugh!


-Snail Hat-
1st cast on - size 10 needles, yarn doubled. Too confusing, can't figure out if the hat is the right size, pulling from both ends of one skein. Frogged.
2nd cast one - size 9 needles. Cast on 64 stitches. Slightly stretched it's 16-17" - too big for a baby, more like a toddler size. And I had added a stitch somewhere. Frogged.
3rd cast on - size 9 needles. Cast on 48 stitches. Stretched it's 12" - way too small. Frogged.
4th cast on - size 9 needles. Cast on 56 stitches. Stretched it's 14-15". Sticking with this one.

Never mind that bebecita probably doesn't need a woolly knitted hat in April. It's upstate NY. It still snows in April and May sometimes.

I've been referencing this size chart to figure out how big to make the hat.

-Saartje's Bootees-
1st cast on - size 7 needles. Seemed to crowded. Frogged.
Waiting until I'm finished with the hat to cast on again, probably with size 8 needles.

A late start...

I had big plans for this January; blogging, crafting, getting fit, trying new things, and generally living a wonderful life. I underestimated the impact that major tragedies in my friends lives would have on mine, and I have spent January mourning and comforting, getting sick, and watching the structure in my own life disappear as I lose sight of my goals.

I need to treat February as my fresh start. February is usually the toughest month for me. It's the bleakest month. No end to winter in sight, resolutions abandoned or broken, no more holidays for a long while (none that I celebrate anyway - we don't have to talk about that pulsating pink target in the middle of the month) and it's harder than ever to get out of bed and get things done.

Not only that, but it seems that the knitting callus on my left index finger is disappearing from lack of use. Come back! I didn't even know I had achieved a knitting callus! I can't imagine what else it would be from that I'm not doing at the moment...does reading cause calluses? I'm not doing much of that either.

I still have my yearly goal of reading 52 books in 52 weeks, but I'm off to a bad start this year.

Still, I have a bunch of knitting projects in the works, and am planning on spending the rest of February working on my knitting. I need to start and finish two items for a friend's baby shower in early March.
I'm making the Etanapipa - Snail hat in a wee size and Saartje's Bootees by Saartje de Bruijn. I've had both of these in my Ravelry queue since I learned to knit a few years back and haven't tried them until now becuase I was intimidated. Why? They aren't difficult items in complexity or difficulty. And they're small. It should take me a week or less for each item.


Citron update - I knit and knit and knit, and still I have not reached the end of the first ball of Malabrigo. I brought this project with me on my trip to Las Vegas, small, light, and not too complicated. I knit on it during my flight across the country, but was way too busy to knit a thing once I got to my destination. Still, I managed to knit 10 rows and listen to all of my downloaded podcasts from Sticks and String.

Other knitting updates and many more posts to follow. I have a bunch in draft form that are waiting for completion. Maybe this weekend...