The Return of the Purple Monster

Last year I was working on a purple bohus sweater that I got as a kit from KnitPicks. After completing a few plain sweaters and one with cables I decided that if I wanted to be a real Knitter I needed to do colorwork. This sweater has taught me to choose projects I love rather than projects I feel like I should do. I've cursed this thing many many times. Finally after finishing the body of the sweater I shoved it in a bag, bought a new knitting bag, and started my green Fogarty Creek blazer. I am in love with the Fogarty Creek sweater, but it has been put on hold until fall.  I can't wait to wear it in the winter, but right now it's 90 degrees outside. Winter is a distant memory and I have a few months where I can live in the delusion that it will never return.

I finished the Dragonfly Wings shawl over the weekend. (I'm going to do a proper photo shoot with Dragonfly and post those pics on Saturday.) I really want to do some more lace and have even picked out the perfect yarn, but I don't like having too many projects on my needles at a time. No matter how much I try to have a complicated project for times I want something interesting and an easy project for times I want mindless knitting I always focus on one project and the other languishes in danger of becoming a UFO. The green sweater and I have worked out an agreement that it will get finished before I start on Christmas knitting (People who are currently slated to get sweaters may be reduced to vests or possibly socks.) The Purple Monster has haunted me like a bad dream and I can't reach any such agreement with it. All I have left is the sleeves (which have more of the stupid colorwork on the cuffs) and steek (this thing should be grateful for sleeves, but since it's got this weird band in the front that sets it up for steeking and the neck is too tight to fit over my head I have no choice but to face the scissors at the end.)

On the bright side the first sleeve is growing pretty quickly so maybe I can order my lace yarn. The promise of alpaca and silk may be the incentive I need to finally finish this sweater.