February is For Finishing 2013

After a very successful January, I'm left with eight projects on the needles.  I started with fifteen, and after I finished four and frogged three more I'm ready to hit February hard and fast (like your mom.)

So anyway -- here's what's left, from oldest to newest.

1.  The Watergarden Cardigan.   Started March 2008.  I've got maybe 4 inches knit.  I am not frogging this one, because I do want to knit it.  Someday.  Hell, maybe even this year, but it won't be in February -- my goal lies elsewhere.

2. The Fourth Doctor.   Started September 2008.  This and the Watergarden Cardigan are the last two "old projects" I have left.  I'm going to finish it this February.  This is me saying it out loud.  I will finish it, by gum.  I'm 40% in right now (I have a spreadsheet that says so.)

3. Knitting in Red.   Started March 17, 2012.  (Note the four year gap.  This is not because I stopped knitting, it's because I started finishing.)   This project is a meditation on change and on personal growth and fulfillment.  It's also a spell.  I'll pick it back up, but I'm not quite there yet.

4. Catching Dreams for Baby.  Started March 2012.   This is a cutie baby blanket.  I know a number of cutie babies that it might go to, or I might keep it at my house for said cutie babies to drag around while they are here.  I've 14 of 25 squares done.

5. Mitts for Rowan.  More about these later.  (They'll warrant their own post, as I'm wanting to write up the pattern.)  I'm about 60% - 65% in.  These will also be finished this February.

6. Drop Stitch Scarf.  Started October 2012.  I'd been looking for something to do with the gorgeous handspun that my sweet, good friend Summer gifted to me.  This was the perfect pattern.   I'm not far into it yet, maybe 5%?

7. Ripple Afghan.  Started December 2012.  I decided that I needed to undertake the art of the tacky crochet afghan.   I was greatly inspired by Lucy at attic24 (she's charming).  I am 50% done.  The first half was finished in probably 3 weeks, but I set it down when I started finishing up old knitting projects.  I kind of love this blanket.  It's swell.

8. Summer Halter.  Started January 2013.  More on the crochet kick!  My dear friend Erin reminded me of the summer top that she'd designed for herself.  I'm working on making my own.  I'm not sure how to categorize the percentage, maybe 25%?  I have two boobs, and nothing else.  (There's a "your mom" joke waiting to happen.) The color in this picture is all wrong,  It's really a happy, springy green.

So there you have it.  I'll do the mitts and the Who Scarf for sure, and then we'll see how much time I have left to work miracles when that's done.

I will point out (loudly and often) that once the Dr. Who scarf is done I will only have ONE (count them... one) project that is older that a year.  Hot damn.

Getting Ready for February

February is for Finishing is looming on the horizon, so its about time to start counting the WIPs, UFOs, Abandoned Projects, and Things that Just Need Kitchenered.

I've done a preliminary search, just in Ravelry, and found ten projects.

Five of which were unfinished at the end of LAST February.  This should be indicative of something, methinks.  At least one of those is outta here (The Lotus Tank).  I'll need to give the rest the hairy eyeball and make some decisions.

I didn't actually quit knitting entirely after March of last year, but I can see that it might look like I did for all the activity around here.  I'm not sure what happened, but blogging stopped being a Thing that I Do.

(The observant amongst you will have no doubt noticed that not blogging is a Thing that I Do fairly frequently.)

Anyways, I have it on my calendar to find all of my projects, and make sure they're all in Ravelry (I know they aren't).   I can think of three more that aren't counted in that 10 I mentioned.   While I'm at it, I'll take some pictures and be back with a proper pre-February is for Finishing update.

VICTORY!

I am pleased to come to you today to report great victory in the field of battle.

The Absolutely Fabulous (aka Ab-Fab, aka Blanket of Perpetuousity, aka that Damned Rag, etc.) is complete.  Donezo.

Finished.

Actually, let me just say that again.

Finished.



I am trying to remember when I really bought this kit.  It could not have been earlier than 2001, nor later than 2004.  In there somewhere -- so at best I've been not finishing this thing for 8 years.  At worst, for 11.  That's a long damn time, yo.

But now it is done.

Afghan on Coffee Table

I've put it on every "February is for Finishing" list since the first one.  And until last year I never even touched it.  I listed it, and then ignored it.   Last year I decided to get serious about my abandoned projects problem, and I finished or flung all sorts of things (taking my original 25 projects down to 6.   I worked on the blanket a fair amount, but didn't really catch tail-wind on it.  I trotted it back out occasionally all throughout 2011, but I was not yet half-way done when this February started.

I'm not entirely sure why or how I finally decided "No really, this is it," but I am so glad that I did.  I feel really good about it.

It doesn't hurt that it's pretty either.  (These photgraphs don't really do it justice.  My camera phone can only do so much indoors and at night.)

Afghan on Couch

I also finished up the Wee Scarf for a Certain Miss.  It's really more of a neck tie than a proper scarf.  But that's okay too.  I think she'll like it.  (Pooh likes it.)

A Bear and a Wee Scarf

The scarf is a simple pattern of my own designing, made from a clearance "tape" yarn that I found in the bottom of a bin at Hancock's several years ago.  The fiber fumes had clearly got to me.

So, it looks like I started February with 8 projects (which is a miracle in and of itself) and I'm most likely leaving it with 5.  I don't have any else close enough to pull out at this point.

But you know what?  I'm really okay with that.

Here are the current standings:

Ravenclaw Socks
Ab-Fab Afghan
Wee Scarf
Nemesis -- 50 % (on hold until March is for Making Mates)
Dr. Who Scarf -- 40%
Amelia -- 20%
The Lotus Blossom Tank -- 5%
Watergarden Cardigan -- 5%

Sweet Merciful Bob in Knitpicks

So, I've counted my UFOs, in preparation for February is For Finishing.

People, I need some sort of intervention.

Please excuse the crappy picture, there's no light in my room.

I am starting this process with 25 UFOs to my name. TWENTY. FIVE. Many of these have appeared in previous years' lists, and some of them were on the FIRST list, back in 2005. Which is ridiculous. Something needs to be done.

(I swear I do finish things. Honest.)

So, on to the actual list.

1. Halloween/Samhain Mystery Shawl
2. Red Heart Afghan, started in the early 00's
3. Ab-Fab Afghan
4. Winter Marigold (current sock club sock)
5. Dr. Who Scarf
6. Arabella
7. Blue Triangle Headscarf
8. Flamin' Fingerless gloves
9. Wee Toe of a Sock
10. Socks that Wanted to Be Mittens Instead
11. Water Shawl
12. "Blue" Kerry Shawl/Blanket
13. Mandala Shawl
14. Mystery Swan Lake Stole
15. Soleil
16. Cheeto Socks (Gentleman's Fancy by Nancy Bush)
17. Clapotis
18. Amelia Cardigan
19. BSJ (Baby Surprise Jacket, not Bloody Stupid Johnson)
20. Pink and Grey Stripedy Socks
21. Sooper Sekrit Surprise Projeck
22. Checkerboard Twist Socks
23. Eala
24. Watergarden Cardigan
25. Awkward Red Thing

Many of these projects are not long for this world. At least two are very nearly done (Eala just needs blocking, and the Blue Headscarf just needs a tie and binding off). I'm past the heel on my second Sock Club sock (go me!)... so it won't be quite as bad as TWENTY. FIVE. by the time February actually starts. I actually frogged two shawls this morning, because I knew that I didn't want to finish them.

So, once things are Frogged and Flung, the list is a little more manageable.

1. Ab-Fab Afghan
2. Winter Marigold (current sock club sock)
3. Dr. Who Scarf
4. Arabella
5. Blue Triangle Headscarf
6. Flamin' Fingerless gloves
7. Wee Toe of a Sock
8. Socks that Wanted to Be Mittens Instead
9. "Blue" Kerry Shawl/Blanket
10. Cheeto Socks (Gentleman's Fancy by Nancy Bush)
11. Clapotis
12. Amelia Cardigan
13. BSJ (Baby Surprise Jacket, not Bloody Stupid Johnson)
14. Pink and Grey Stripedy Socks
15. Sooper Sekrit Surprise Projeck
16. Checkerboard Twist Socks
17. Eala
18. Watergarden Cardigan

The Bloody Stupid Johnson Baby Surprise Jacket may yet get ripped, and so might the "Blue" Kerry Shawl.

Good gravy, that is still a lot of stuff. Now I just need a strategy.

February is For Finishing, 6th Annual Finish-a-pa-looza

I started really knitting back in 2004-2005. That's also when, the observant amongst you will note, that I began blogging. So anyway, by 2006 I had racked up a gracious plenty of UFOs. I decided that drastic piles of yarn required drastic action and cooked up "February is for Finishing." I've been trying to con others into doing it with me ever since.

As a side note, I did learn after some Googling that others have hoisted the February is for Finishing Flag. I suspect, human nature and alliteration being what they are, that the idea for FISF arose, full-formed like Athena, into the minds, blogs and knitting needles of folks all across the country. Which is to say, I thought it was an original idea when I thought of it, and I bet they did to. S'alright, the point is that more UFOs are getting FO-ed this way.

All of which is merely prologue to this:

6th Annual February is For Finishing-Palooza

The Rules:

• List, list, oh list. By February 1st, have an accurate and complete list of ALL of your UFOs. Yes, even that one that you stuffed behind the couch in shame and despair last August.
  
• Take Inventory. Now that you have your list, decide which of these projects actually bless you. Did you not finish this UFO because you were led astray by that fancy new sock yarn? Or have you not finished it because its uglier than a really ugly thing, and will not fit man nor beast?
• Make Decisions. Finish, Frog or Fling. In my little world, UFOs can be sorted into 3 categories. Finish — I totally still want to make this. Frog — in the immortal words of Stephanie Pearl-McPhee, "I like yarn better than I like bad hats." And, Fling — Wow. This is so bad that not even the yarn is worth saving. I'll say a passing prayer for the Acryls who gave their lives to make this fugly yarn, and move on with my life.
• Prioritize. At this point, you have to decide what your end goal is. Are you in this to finish as many items as possible? Or is there one specific UFO that you'd like to push through and finish? Some folks like to have a plan "I'll knit the last sleeve of Auntie Mabel's sweater, and then I'll finish up that scarf I've been knitting since the Carter administration." Others prefer a more holistic approach and simply knit what suits their mood and fancy at the time. Do as best pleases you.
• Be Strong. Do not, and this is very important, DO NOT cast on anything new during February. We're finishing here, people, not starting. The object of the game is to clear the slate so we can cast on a whole slew of new UFOs in March and April.
• Take a Button.

As an avid, yet inconstant sock knitter, I also have an optional rule.

• March is For Making Mates. If you have the first of a pair of socks on the needles, finish 'em up in February, and then set them aside. February is for what's already on the needles. Then in March, make the second sock for all of those first socks (or gloves, or mittens, or whatever) that you finished up in February. Clever, eh?

Starting to Finish

I haven't got the oomph to update properly just now, but I did go through my UFOs on Saturday. I had entirely more than I wish I did (some of which I had intended to frog last February...now that's just embarrassing.)

Anyway, for now I'm finishing up one or two small projects, like some Fingerless Mitts and a scarf or two. My main push is going to be to get my Hippy Chic Cardigan as close to finished as possible.

I'll post a proper list later.

No really.

Hush up, you.

All Socks All the Time

Remember how I just couldn't wait to start knitting my socks?

Yeah.

Bored now.

I long for a shawl or a cardigan.

I have completed the first of the Child's French Socks (go me!) and am yay-so-far into the cuff of the second one.

I have begun the gusset decreases in the first of the Mnemosyne socks, and am very, very close to the toe shaping of the second of the Riverbed/Swirlus-Interuptus socks.



Current Olympic Standings:

Swirlus Interuptus Socks: 85%
Child's French Socks: 55%
Eyelet Socks: 50%
Mnemosyne Socks: 30%
Anniversary Socks: 25%

Will she get the gold!?!?!?!

It's hard to say, Bob. She did finish the first of the C.F. socks, but that only brings her total to 3 out of 10 complete socks. This is anyone's race and we'll just have to keep watching.

Gratify Me Now, Please

Now that I've gotten pictures up of all of those socks, I want to start finishing them. I mean, I don't mind the idea of delayed gratification, I just want it NOW. Is that so wrong?

Meanwhile, I could be working on either of my Mystery Shawls, or I could be swatching for upcoming projects, or hey! I could work on the Watergarden sweater.


Or, you know... not...

Ravelympics Roll Call

I'm trying to get something like unto a real grasp of what I've set myself up for in the coming weeks.

In descending order of nearly-finishatude:

1. Child's French Sock ~20% complete. I have not yet turned the heel of the first sock.










to knit: 1.8

2. Anniversary Sock ~25% complete. I am in the process of starting the gusset of the first sock.










to knit: 1.5

3. Mnemosyne* ~25% complete. I am turning the heel of the first sock.










to knit 1.5

4. Eyelet Sock 50% complete. I have one entire sock.










to knit 1

5. Swirlus Interuptus 75% complete. I am decreasing the gusset of the second sock.










to knit 0.5


Total Olympian effort required: 6.3 socks. More or less.

Which, unless math fails me entirely (as it is wont to do), comes to a whopping 0.37 socks a day.

I can do that.

*This is a pattern that I am designing with an eye towards publishing, so I won't be posting pictures. But I've knit half a sock, I promise.

Long Summer

Very shortly after my last post, my position was terminated and I very suddenly lost my job. Since then, I have gone into business with three of my closest friends, joined two Mystery Knit-a-longs, and cleaned the heck out of my bedroom.

Sudden unemployment does odd things to the psyche.

So. In knitting news, I have been a busy bee. I've started designing a pair of socks. I am pretty excited by this, and hope to offer my pattern on Ravelry once it's finished and completely written and beta'ed.

I've also joined the Goddess Knits Anniversary Mystery Shawl. It is a mandala-style pattern that I'm really enjoying knitting. It's my first pi-shawl, which is groovy. My only regret is the yarn choice. I am not really loving the variegated yarn. I think it obscures the lace entirely too much. I think once it's blocked I'll decide if I can live with it (as I know blocking will greatly change the look). If the answer is "no" then I'm gonna over-dye that sucker.



The second Mystery Shawl I'm working on is MS9 (also by Goddess Knits). I'm using Knitpicks Palette in Fawn. It is going to be a wonderfully warm , cuddly and big shawl -- perfect I think for gatherings.

I have tried, with no great success, two other projects with this yarn. This time, I'm happy.


I have also joined the groups for the Mystery Stole 4, and Secret of the Stole III. Neither have started yet, and I haven't decided whether or not to cast on with the group, or just save the patterns. I do know the perils of too many projects on the needles at once, honest I do.

Speaking of which (there is a segue here, I swear), I'm co-captaining Team Marmoset for the 2008 Ravelympics. My Olympian feat will be to finish all of the pairs of socks that I currently have on needles. This means 5 (yes FIVE) pairs of socks in various stages of incompletion. o.O This is me making the big eyes.

Screw Your Courage to the Sticking Point

Right, so tomorrow is February 1. Time to gird your loins, screw your courage to the sticking point and start counting.

Here's what I currently have on needles (in no particular order):

1. The Cambridge Jacket (the Man Sweater) by Ann Budd
   
2. Anniversary Socks (1 of 2) from Interweave's Favorite Socks
   
3. French Child's Sock (1 of 2) from Knitting Vintage Socks
   
4. Green Thing (its a gift, and must therefore be referred to "vaguely")
5. Mystic Waters Stole
6. Mystery Stole 3
   
7. Ab-Fab Afghan
8. Blue Kerry Shawl from Traditional Knitted Lace Shawls
   
9. Peach Scarf
10. Flamin' Fingerless Gloves
11. Eyelet Socks (1 of 2 complete)
12. Gryffindor Scarf
    

Twelve...well, that ain't a great number, but remember the first year I did this? Glossing over the fact that not one, but two of the above items graced that list as well, let's concentrate on the fact that 2 years ago I opened with 19 objects on needles.

Okay, I hear what you are saying. You are saying, Kade, if you have two things that were UFOs in 2006, and you still haven't finished them, isn't it about time to frog? And I answer... no. One's the Ab-Fab kit (Colinette yarn, all the way, baayyy-bee) and the other is a "shawl" that I'm knitting out of worsted weight acrylic—in other words, its also an afghan. I'm not ready to work on them, but dudes, I'm not giving them up either.

So. 12.

I'm totally frogging the Mystery Stole. Frankly, I like the yarn much better than I like the pattern. So, out it goes. That makes 11.

Gryffindor scarf. Its ugly, clunky, itchy, and... well, its Gryffindor. (No offense to the Gryffindorian amongst you. I mean no disrepect, but these are the people who's idea of a clever plan is "Everybody on Three!"*) So, there's 10.

I'm playing with the Alternate rules of "March is For Making Mates." That said, I have three pairs of socks and one pair of fingerless gloves on needles. The Eyelet socks are of my own design, and I have one completely finished (the other not yet cast on). This one is set aside until March. I'm working on the first of the pair of two different Nancy Bush patterns. I'll be finishing up both of these and then setting them aside. I've got the thumb to do on the first of two fingerless gloves, and then again, setting aside for March.

The Green Thing will probably only take an afternoon to finish.

I can't find the other skein of yarn I need for the peach scarf, so I haven't a clue what I'm doing about that. Maybe looking for the yarn. That would be radical.

Anyway, I won't be entering March with a clean knitterly slate, but I'll be enough closer to feel totally vindicated in casting on scads of new stuff.

*With all due respect to Cassie Claire's Fanon Draco

It's That Time of Year Again

Here at Chez Woolly, we have a little tradition called "February is For Finishing." The concept is simple — for the entire month you concentrate on finishing whatever you have on the needles. Here are the rules (please feel free to post, alter, or ignore, as best suits your current needs).

3rd Annual February is For Finishing-Palooza

The Rules:

• List, list, oh list. By February 1st, have an accurate and complete list of ALL of your UFOs. Yes, even that one that you stuffed behind the couch in shame and despair last August.
  
• Take Inventory. Now that you have your list, decide which of these projects actually bless you. Did you not finish this UFO because you were led astray by that fancy new sock yarn? Or have you not finished it because its uglier than a really ugly thing, and will not fit man nor beast?
• Make Decisions. Finish, Frog or Fling. In my little world, UFOs can be sorted into 3 categories. Finish — I totally still want to make this. Frog — in the immortal words of Stephanie Pearl-McPhee, "I like yarn better than I like bad hats." And, Fling — Wow. This is so bad that not even the yarn is worth saving. I'll say a passing prayer for the Acryls who gave their lives to make this fugly yarn, and move on with my life.
• Prioritize. At this point, you have to decide what your end goal is. Are you in this to finish as many items as possible? Or is there one specific UFO that you'd like to push through and finish? Some folks like to have a plan "I'll knit the last sleeve of Auntie Mabel's sweater, and then I'll finish up that scarf I've been knitting since the Carter administration." Others prefer a more holistic approach and simply knit what suits their mood and fancy at the time. Do as best pleases you.
• Be Strong. Do not, and this is very important, DO NOT cast on anything new during February. We're finishing here, people, not starting. The object of the game is to clear the slate so we can cast on a whole slew of new UFOs in March and April.
• Take a Button.

As an avid, yet inconstant sock knitter, I also have an optional rule.

• March is For Making Mates. If you have the first of a pair of socks on the needles, finish 'em up in February, and then set them aside. February is for what's already on the needles. Then in March, make the second sock for all of those first socks (or gloves, or mittens, or whatever) that you finished up in February. Clever, eh?
  

This Little Alien Went to Market*

I figure everyone must have a system for determining what does and doesn't count as an actual UFO. I mean, these things are all relative, right? Does it become a UFO moment you cast on? Or is that a WIP?

How long does it take to make the transition? Let's say, hypothetically, that you get bored and wander off. When does it loose its shiny WIP status, and join the lowly, the unloved, the uncounted, the UFOs?

For myself, I have a graduated system (and clearly, if I put as much effort into actually knitting as I do to thinking about it, much of this post would be moot.)

(Image © Annais)

Pipe-Line Projects: these are the knits I'm dreaming about, reading the patterns and shopping for yarn. These are "what's next."

Current Projects: projects that are on the needles, and that I'm either currently, actively knitting, or have done in the very recent past

Once and Future Projects: projects that I used to be really excited about, but for whatever reason have fallen by the knitting wayside. These are projects that I will totally (someday) finish. No really. Stop looking at me like that.

I'm sorry, Do I Know You? Projects: Projects that I don't remember why I was knitting. I would frog them, but to do so would require admitting that I'd ever cast them on.

Yarn: Gone daddy, gone. I came, I saw, I frogged. As Stephanie Pearl McPhee would say, "I remember that I like yarn more than I like bad hats" (Knitting Rules, pg. 125).

So, How do you count your UFOs?

*When my youngest two children were babies, my husband liked to play "piggies" on their toes. Never one to leave well enough alone, we changed the rhyme every time we said it. Sometimes the piggies went to market to buy tofu (my husband is a hippie, what can I say?) Sometimes though, they weren't piggies at all. Sometimes they were aliens "This little alien cried NargleBleepZoop all the way home!" It seemed a logical progression from counting UFOs to counting aliens.