Building momentum and the next project
Usually I end up doing a series of posts that recap the Christmas knitting, but this year I'm feeling fairly blergh about that, so I'm going to move onward. Maybe I'll use them as filler over the next few weeks, but I'm much more excited about some other ongoing things.
I've been working alot recently on a shawl of my own design that grew out of the P3 retreat in October 2012. I first did a version in some lovely DK weight purple yarn that was in my goody bag, but after finishing that off I decided it needed to be a) bigger, and b) in laceweight. That particular bout of madness led me to a skein of Gleem Lace from Fyberspates, purchased at Unravel last February, and has landed me here, approximately ten months later, finally at the edging of this particular piece.
Some design projects fly off the needles. Some move in fits and starts, but make steady progress. This is/was a project that has been like pulling teeth without the benefit of anesthetic. I feel like I've been working on the body of this shawl forever, without any end in sight. It's more then a little demoralizing.
But today, o today! Today I finished the body of the shawl, and started the edging. And all of a sudden the inertia has shifted from molasses trying to flow uphill in the Northeastern United States right now (with some ridiculous polar vortex freezing the bejeebers out of everyone) to water flowing down the Thames at ebb tide. The 500+ stitches are flying along, and I'm optimistic that it's going to be off the needles very, very soon. I'm beyond thrilled. I can't show you any pictures yet, but it's going to be glorious.
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I'm also at a very dangerous point for any knitter - the end of a project is a weak spot, an opportunity for the knitter to suddenly resemble a frantic magpie, bobbing and weaving and investigating every shiny thing that comes along. I've been distracted by four skeins of Sweet Georgia Yarns Merino Silk Fine in "Mist". I've got enough for a sweater for ME!!!!!, and a deadline of this year's Unravel to finish it. But I'm having a lot of trouble deciding on what sweater to make, and here's where you come in.
Here are the current candidates (left to right, top to bottom): Vitamin D by Heidi Kirrmaier, Smaragd by Svetlana Volkova, Myrtle Cardigan by Snowden Becker, Mendel by Carol Fellers, Leaving by Anne Hanson, Juno by yellowcosmo, Honeybee Cardigan by Laura Chau (I'd do the full length version, not cropped), Audrey in Unst by Gudrun Johnston, Afterlight by Amy Herzog, Abigail by Cecily Glowik MacDonald, Brigitte by Jennifer Wood, Cushman by Amy Herzog, Isabelle by Jennifer Wood, Atelier by Heidi Kirrmaier, Vitamin D again.
Clearly I'm leaning towards a cardigan, but a good friend of mine made Mendel and it is absolutely gorgeous in real life. The twisted stitches in Isabelle make me weak in the knees, but I'm a bit concerned about how long they might take. I have the pattern for the Honeybee Cardigan and Leaving already, but I am completely incapable of making a decision. Help? Please?...
I've been working alot recently on a shawl of my own design that grew out of the P3 retreat in October 2012. I first did a version in some lovely DK weight purple yarn that was in my goody bag, but after finishing that off I decided it needed to be a) bigger, and b) in laceweight. That particular bout of madness led me to a skein of Gleem Lace from Fyberspates, purchased at Unravel last February, and has landed me here, approximately ten months later, finally at the edging of this particular piece.
Some design projects fly off the needles. Some move in fits and starts, but make steady progress. This is/was a project that has been like pulling teeth without the benefit of anesthetic. I feel like I've been working on the body of this shawl forever, without any end in sight. It's more then a little demoralizing.
But today, o today! Today I finished the body of the shawl, and started the edging. And all of a sudden the inertia has shifted from molasses trying to flow uphill in the Northeastern United States right now (with some ridiculous polar vortex freezing the bejeebers out of everyone) to water flowing down the Thames at ebb tide. The 500+ stitches are flying along, and I'm optimistic that it's going to be off the needles very, very soon. I'm beyond thrilled. I can't show you any pictures yet, but it's going to be glorious.
*********************************************************************
I'm also at a very dangerous point for any knitter - the end of a project is a weak spot, an opportunity for the knitter to suddenly resemble a frantic magpie, bobbing and weaving and investigating every shiny thing that comes along. I've been distracted by four skeins of Sweet Georgia Yarns Merino Silk Fine in "Mist". I've got enough for a sweater for ME!!!!!, and a deadline of this year's Unravel to finish it. But I'm having a lot of trouble deciding on what sweater to make, and here's where you come in.
Here are the current candidates (left to right, top to bottom): Vitamin D by Heidi Kirrmaier, Smaragd by Svetlana Volkova, Myrtle Cardigan by Snowden Becker, Mendel by Carol Fellers, Leaving by Anne Hanson, Juno by yellowcosmo, Honeybee Cardigan by Laura Chau (I'd do the full length version, not cropped), Audrey in Unst by Gudrun Johnston, Afterlight by Amy Herzog, Abigail by Cecily Glowik MacDonald, Brigitte by Jennifer Wood, Cushman by Amy Herzog, Isabelle by Jennifer Wood, Atelier by Heidi Kirrmaier, Vitamin D again.
Clearly I'm leaning towards a cardigan, but a good friend of mine made Mendel and it is absolutely gorgeous in real life. The twisted stitches in Isabelle make me weak in the knees, but I'm a bit concerned about how long they might take. I have the pattern for the Honeybee Cardigan and Leaving already, but I am completely incapable of making a decision. Help? Please?...