Focusing on the Finish Line

Last week I was happily working along on the green sweater when I saw another blogger posting about the Ravellenic Games. Immediately I wanted to set greeny aside and cast on a new sweater with the lofty hopes of finishing it in two weeks. My husband knows me very well and knows that at the end of the two weeks I'd have another WIP and would be upset with myself for not meeting the impossible goal. He gently reminded me that I have several projects on the verge of being done and questioned if this really was the best time to start a new sweater. As usual he was right and inspired me to set my own goal. In the next two weeks I will focus on finishing everything that is close to being finished. It won't count towards any competitions, but it's still a good goal.

Writer's Block is still patiently waiting for binding. I also got two tops back from my quilter so now there are three quilts that need binding and labels.

In addition to finishing the green sweater I also need to finish the button band on the brown blob (I ordered more yarn when I ordered buttons for greeny.) I need to finish sewing the ribbon onto the steeked part of the purple monster and add buttons. (I also might need to find a solution to loosening the wrists. The color work on the cuffs have made it so that the sleeves aren't comfortable.) The last thing on the list of things to be finished are my fingerless gloves.

These aren't all of my WIPs. (You'll notice the mystery quilt is no where to be seen.) These are just the projects that are one or two steps away from being finished. Last summer my husband helped me wind up my yarn mountain. The light blue yarn in the mountain is going into the fingerless gloves, the yellow yarn became Omelet (I should probably add a photo shoot of Omelet to my list of things to do in the next two weeks.) The brown yarn became a hat I made for my husband for Christmas, which leave the blue yarn at the base of the mountain. When I finish with this list I get to cast the blue yarn on for Anne's Cardigan.

Almost done...

I'm beginning to wonder what it is with cuffs. I set myself a goal of having a sleeve finished by the next Yarn Along and once again I find myself within an inch of being done. This weekend I focused on Free Motion Quilting a quilt for the first time. This sleeve has been my happy place. When everything seemed to be going wrong and I was questioning whether or not I should be allowed to sew anymore I would walk away from the quilting, pick up the simple knitting of this sleeve, and could remind myself that I am a competent women capable of creating things of great beauty out of simple materials. (Yes, I'm even starting to see this purple sweater as beautiful.)

This weekend I even found some great buttons for this sweater. I need to do a bit of research before I steek. (I'm somewhat confused why I left nine stitches in the middle, but am only supposed to sew a line of securing stitches one knit stitch apart. Until I know what will happen to the other 6 stitches and how to put those stitches on needles for the button band I think I'm going to wait to finish this sweater.)

Right now Knit Picks is having their summer yarn sale. I got some great yarn for Christmas presents (more on that later) and a lovely lace weight so that I can finally make Omelet. This yarn is 70% alpaca, 30% silk and so soft and dreamy. I can't wait to start knitting with this.

Shimmer yarn, colorway Buttercream

One Purple Sleeve

After writing last week's post I went back to the pattern site to offer the purple monster's link. While I was there I found the picture that inspired me to make this sweater. I forgot how different it looks on a person instead of laying flat (unfortunately the printed pattern only has a picture of the sweater laying flat.) This is still the purple monster, but it's more like a one-eyed one-horned lovable purple monster rather than one that needs to be slayed with sharp items. Don't get me wrong, the thought of taking scissors to this sweater is still giving me great amounts of pleasure. The steeks are the place where my lack of love for this sweater is going to pay off. If it succeeds I'll have a cardigan. If it fails I'll have killed the purple monster. Either way it will be a win for me.

I'm about 1/4" away from casting off. I love that I worked on this sweater for months before getting sick of it and burying it in the knitting bag. It's possible that within 2-3 weeks of picking this thing back up it will be finished.

I debated just doing the sleeves in plain purple, but I sucked it up and kept the color work section. I'm hoping that with the four day weekend that's coming up I can get the second sleeve done before next week's Yarn Along.

Speaking of finished items, I finished the Dragonfly Wings shawl. 

Saturday's post has some more pictures of it and the link to the pattern. 

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.