First up is my Summer Flies, made out of Kidsilk Haze Stripe. Wasn't sure how the striping would work out, but the stripes fell very nicely on the pattern I think...
Pretty, no? This one was finished a while ago (beginning of last month), and was a bit of a soul-destroyer, but I can tell you more about that another day. Tired now, and buckets to do yet, and seriously, where the hell did this day go?!?
Anyway, second was that fabulous Baby Silkpaca Lace I acquired a couple of weeks ago. I decided to try to break the obviously very clearly established pattern by knitting with it almost immediately. Into a Swallowtail. Yes, I know that's my sixth one. But I'll be honest, I loved this yarn, wanted it to be pretty, did NOT want to be chancing it on a pattern I wasn't familiar with and dreading the possibility of running out of yarn.
So it became this...
Please note that even though the sun was shining in, my faulty (really old) camera will not let me decide for myself whether or not I want the flash to, y'know, FLASH all over everything. The colours aren't as flat in real life, and the little beads are WAY more twinkly, don't look as dead or harsh against the yarn as they do here. Honest!
It's really pretty, if a little smaller than I was expecting. I've worked this pattern A LOT, but it's never come out this small. I know the silk in it is going to limit the stretch, and I'm fine with that, as it also makes it look pretty, and easier to put the beads on! It's a plenty-big shawlette, and I love it.
The only problem? Leftovers. I hates leftovers, and I have a LOT of them here (more than 10g, i.e. more than 20% of my total yarn). I'm guessing I may even have had enough for another bunch of budding lace rows to lengthen the thing. Ah well, I'll know next time! Question now, of course, is what to do with 10-15g of exquisite laceweight? Huh? Huh?
So after all that finishing of WIPs, I thought I'd try to be a good girl this week (well, as good as this girl can be. Turns out I have my limits) and work on a couple of things...
(a) I would NOT buy any more new stash this week at least (that decision was completely taken out of my hands by the fact that I do not have disposable income at the mo. A good thing, as I tend to spend it on yarn).
(Seriously though, when you find yourself stopping in the middle of your big grocery shop thinking 'but if I just skipped dinner on Thursday and Friday, I could buy a skein or two of such-and-such. Rice Krispies are okay for dinner, right?' you need to make your way very quickly to the nearest checkout, get your precious food out of there and home, and then and only then are you to permit yourself to even THINK about knitting again!
Close one. Skipping meals, in general, is never a good idea. When you throw in that this knitter is also an insulin-dependent diabetic, and that skipping afore-mentioned meal could leave her, quite literally, dead, then you can see it is NEVER a good idea to trade yarn for essentials. Well, other essentials).
(And yet, even with that crystal-clear, simple, life-or-death choice ahead of me, I still found myself thinking about the yarn. Really not sure that this is a positive development in my character).
Anyhoo...
(b) knit like crazy to clear some of my current WIPs, so as I can start on the other projects in my queue.
(See above (i.e. Malabrigo Swallowtail). Also the third installment of my Botany Lace obsession is blocking as we speak, so that's done too).
This whole ''2012 is my year of the Stashdown AND the WIPdown'' thing isn't going at all according to plan. I will do a proper 'review' of the carnage to date in June, as it's the mid-way point, and as good a point as any to draw attention to my absolute lack of forward motion (while also, hopefully, theoretically, giving me the kick up the backside required to take control of things once again).
Ya see, it had all started out with my lining up the yarns I had. I then matched them to projects that were on my queue, then arranged my queue accordingly. Good basis, right? A project for everything, every project in its place?
Unfortunately, that 'pattern' tab on Ravelry is like my own personal rabbit-hole. Once I dive down there, I may not be seen for days. Of course, new patterns are going to be added to the queue. New patterns are being added to Ravelry all the time. I have even gone so far as to commit myself to some of them by actually printing them out. And making sure I've the needles.
Not all of these patterns have matching yarns in my stash. Which sometimes results in yarn being 'diverted' from a different project (Ooh, and leaving a poor, abandoned pattern, needing a yarn... well, I may just HAVE to go buy some so!).
Yeah, the plan is getting its arse kicked. I could be wrong (but in this case I doubt it), but I think my original plan was FAR too overreaching. So should I panic? I think not. And why, you may ask, with your plans in tatters, knitting all around you, do you not feel a total failure?
I'll be honest, I really really don't. I have a LOT of knitting here, and I'm getting to it. Honest. In my own way, in my own time. My plan was stupid, because it did not factor in that the person who'd be doing the knitting was me, and apparently I don't know me very well! We shall reassess next month, and give a more formal overview of progress, but I'm good.
No such thing as failure here. Why?
Because knitting is a hobby!! It's SUPPOSED to be FUN and ENJOYABLE!!
The second it stops being any of these things for you, STOP. We've enough sources of pressure coming at us from all other areas in life, so why the hell would we be pressuring ourselves with our hobbies?
Go enjoy your knitting, people!
So if you'll excuse me, I've about four projects I'd like to go cast on for right now...
(and no, I'm not kidding. You know me better than that!)
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