What is a girl to do when her normal kick of finishing projects becomes impossible due to a combination of little knitting time, learning a new knitting technique and having meaty long projects on the go? Why, cast on ALL THE THINGS of course!
I have a serious case of startitis. It stems from the fact that I'm not getting my normal completion kick. All of my WIPs were really long-term projects:
The Still Light sweater dress in a light 4ply yarn.
The Goldern Wheat Shawl. Ahem. Am I really still talking about it?!
And a super-secret work project that I can't really talk about yet...
So clearly the only solution to my slow knitting pace was to cast on a whole world of new projects. After all there is something of a kick to be had in searching through patterns in my library, and picking gorgeous yarns out of the stash. For me, it's not quite as good as casting off, but for now it will do.
First up is a very blue pair of socks for Jim. They are nothing fancy, but I really needed something in plain stocking stitch, so that I can whizz round in my newly learnt style (with yarn in my left hand), without having to worry about purling or anything more complicated. I've got 1 sock done, and now I'm having a bit of second sock syndrome, plus the needles I need are in another project.
Next up is a lovely simple cowl design by Stephen West, called Windschief. I'm using some GORGEOUS Old Maiden Aunt Alpaca Silk DK in the Brass Taps and Oak colourway (the picture on Lilith's site is a much better representation of the colour). It is just beautiful to knit with. This was meant to be the project that would prevent me from needing to buy ALL THE YARN at Loop on Sunday. It didn't really work. Well, I don't think it did. But maybe without this project, I would have purchased more. Who knows? This yarn doesn't knit to the correct gauge for the pattern, so I've rejigged the numbers somewhat to make it work.
I've kind of stalled on these colourwork mittens for a young friend of mine. I promised them to her as an 18th birthday present, and I really need to get a shimmy on with making them. I'm finding them hard because I normally do Fair Isle with both yarns in my right hand. At a push I can do it with one yarn in each hand, but since I'm meant to be resting my right hand from knitting, these are a bit tricky to work on. The pattern is Oh Deer! and I'm using the suggested Berroco Ultra Alpaca Light yarn that I purchased online from Loop. They will be super-duper once they are done.
My final WIP is a pair of the amazing Phloem Socks by Rachel Coopey. As soon as I saw these in Knitty, I knew they had to be mine. Rachel is a fantastic designer, with a particular talent for socks. Click through to her designer page on Ravelry (linked above) to see the range of her brilliance. As a former gardener, socks called Phloem were a must. I think there will be a pair of Xylem socks in my future too. I am sure it's been said before, but a girl really can't have enough green socks, can she? I'm using some fabulous Skein Queen Crush for these, that I picked up at my local yarn shop; Marmalade Yarns.
Phew! That's a lot of projects for me. I was doing so well at being monogamous, and really, the more projects I have on the go, the slower I will be at finishing any of them. It's a bit of a conundrum. In the meantime, maybe I'll just cast on something else...
