Victory!

My Granny Halter is complete, and pretty darned cute, if I do say so myself.   The only other thing I might do is get some beads to put at the end of the tie (to give it a little weight and whimsy).

The yarn is Knit Picks Shine Sport, in a whole raft of colors.  I used almost two complete balls of the apple green, and about forty percent of one ball of each of the other colors.  Size 3.75 mm (F) crochet hook.

Attempting to Update

Last post I promised an update on what I'm working on, and then I realized that was easier said than done.

I'm not sure I know what I'm working on.

Ravelry tells me that I have eight current unfinished projects, and I think that's probably pretty accurate.  But I'm sure not working on all of them.

So let me tell you what I've actually laid hands on recently.  That's a more accurate measure, I think.

First, my current sock companion.  This is the second of two, and it keeps not knitting itself while it rides around in my purse, the freeloader.  I started these in March on size 1s.  I might have been the wee-est bit stressed out back in March, as the first sock is knit at the terrifying gauge of 9.5 stitches per inch.  I just hope the second one matches it.

Second, my Granny Halter top is ALMOST finished.  I need to add more to the side, do the other side to match, and then make straps and pray.  I do not promise a modeled shot when I'm done.

I'm also working on this Asymmetry Scarf (Ravelry link).  My intention is to crochet until I'm out of the Lion Brand Homespawn it's done up in and to turn it into a cowl.  It's actually charming me now that I've got it going.  (I am trying to use up old stash.  This definitely qualifies.)

So that's three, out of eight that I'm actually working on.  Two are nearly done, and they're all three over the half-way mark.  Once the Granny Halter is done, I'll pick a different old-old project for my "WIP Wednesdays" (likely the afghan. I seem to be on a crochet bender at the moment).

And I don't promise not to cast more on in the meantime.  So there.

A Wicked Case

This spring I've been struck with a wicked case of startitis.  I predicted it in February — I felt sure that after having been so good all month long that I was due to cast on about a billion things.  And I did.

But I'm trying something new this time, and finishing a great deal of what I'm starting.  It's wacky, but it works.   Long-time readers will remember the Parade of Hats back in 2011 (that was a good Christmas year).  It's like that.  I'm casting on, knitting a while (or crocheting in a few cases) and then whammo! I'm casting back off.  CRAZY.

There are a couple of things at work here, causing all this industry.

Firstly, I'm participating in a Stashdown on Ravelry.  Rules are simple:  don't buy new yarn, love the stash you're with, and oh hey!  You might get some prizes!  I'm in it more for the satisfaction of freeing up some storage space (my outrageous stash has outgrown it's shelf and under-bed containment areas) than the prizes, but it sure doesn't hurt as far as incentives go.

I'm also attributing some of my recent knitting mojo to Stephanie Pearl-McPhee.   I have been re-reading her blog from the beginning, and watching nine years of her hand-knits parade past is pretty damned inspiring.

Gauge is also playing a part.  I've been knitting things like baby sweaters out of worsted or aran weight yarn.  Turns out that if you knit small things with bigger stitches you get done faster.  This is like a revelation to me.  (Just like it was during the Time of Many Hats.  Sometimes I need to learn a lesson over and over again more than once.)

So, without further ado, here's some of what I've been up to.

First up are two tiny baby cardigans.  The yellow is newborn sized, the green is 3-6 month.  I modified this pattern to size it up by casting on 12 extra stitches (one pattern repeat) and distributing them evenly around.   The original is long sleeved, but since the babies in question will be wearing them in the South and in the summer, I thought that short sleeves were rather the way to go.

Next we have my version of the popular Hitchhiker scarf.   I've tried a couple of different things with this yarn (a scarf that was culled from the herd right before February, and then Nutkin socks) but nothing was working.   The Stashdown was having a Hitchhiker Knit Along, and I was in like Flynn.

I've also got several projects still on the go.  I'm planning a "here's what I'm working on" post for later in the week.

Wednesdays are for Works in Progress

If you remember from the end of February (and if you don't, I totally wouldn't blame you, because I had to go look it up myself to be sure) I had four projects still on the needles after my last, wildly successful, bout with February is for Finishing.

I had the Watergarden Cardigan from years ago, my Knitting in Red Shawl, a not-nearly-tacky-enough crochet afghan, and my improvised Granny Halter Top.  So, that's four things, and save an hour or two spent pleasurably with the halter last Friday night, I haven't touched a single one of them since Feb 28.

And see, this is  how I get myself into these problems in the first place.  (If by "these problems" you mean "having 18 things on the needles, more than half of which you haven't touched in three years" ... and I do.)

Once I was released from the enforced finishitude that is February, I instantly cast on a whole whack of projects (as per usual).

I started and frogged two pairs of socks (that was fun, let me tell you.  Gauge and I have a hate-hate relationship)  I've started two MORE pairs of socks (I'm into the second sock on one pair, so that one's likely to stick, thank goodness), some gnome mitts for my niece, two baby sweaters, a Hitchhiker, and, uh... maybe something else?  I don't even remember anymore, it's that ridiculous.  Oh, a hat.  That's right, I made a hat. 

Anyway, I'm all about starting something new, so I'm not worried about it, but I've been craving a bit of structure in my life.  I feel the need for an arbitrary rule or two, just to keep me on track and to give me a goal to work on.

So, to that end, I present to you:  Wednesdays are for Works in Progress.  (Not an original, alliteration, I grant you, as a quick google search will reveal, but it will do.)

I hereby commit, for the duration of the time between now and when I decide it's boring and I don't want to anymore, to only knitting WIPs on Wednesdays.  For our purposes, I'm choosing to define "WIPs" as "stuff what was on needles or hooks on Feb 28."  They are really closer to UFOs than WIPs, but I decided that thUrsdays are for UFOs was pushing it.

First up?  The Granny Halter:

A Better Offer

Dear Koren,

We know that when you first crocheted us up, you were filled with nothing but affection and love for our cute little granny-corners, and our bright happy colors.  We were happy too.  We really were -- we were excited to finally be a part of something, after we hadn't quite made it into that hat you'd started and finished YEARS before.

We wouldn't say that we were bitter, no of course not, maybe just disappointed that after all this time, after you'd finally fished us out of the closet where you'd been keeping us with the other cast-off and abandoned bits and bobs of yarn, after you'd finally started putting us to some kind of use and making us feel loved and wanted, that after all of that you just...

...left us.

Left us lying behind like so many over-sized coasters next to the couch in the living room at chez woolly.


Well, if that's the way it's going to be, sister, then that's just fine.  We know where we aren't wanted.

And we know where we are.  We want you to know we don't miss you at all.

Yours Sincerely,

Your Granny Squares

(With all due respect and apologies to The Yarn Harlot.)