Yay! I finished my first "garment" of the sweater type last night. Behold, the Matador bolero from KnitScene:
I was so hypnotized by the beautiful Naturwolle (#3 Kunterbunt) that I couldn’t be bothered to knit a swatch; I just went for it, knitting a slightly larger size to be on the safe side. I don’t usually wear stuff like this, but it’s so lovely … a dream to knit, always a new color to look forward to. Perhaps a full sweater or cardigan is in the future …
Anyway, I’m quite excited about my first FO in quite a while. As you might have noticed, I have trouble 1) committing to a pattern 2) starting once committed (before changing my mind once again), and 3) finishing the pattern once I’m started. I guess I get easily distracted by every new pattern that comes my way; it doesn’t help that I love the instant gratification — which isn’t always forthcoming in knitting (or graduate school). Kind of makes you wonder why I do either. I like knitting — the process at least, if not pattern selection and commitment — but grad school … not so sure.
So, I’m back at step 1: I just can’t decide what to start next.
Speaking of which, I am in stash overload:
6 skeins of Green Mountain Spinnery Mountain Mohair in spice. It should be enough for a mini-sweater. I hope.
more Mountain Mohair: 2 skeins day lilly, 1 coral bell for socks.
2 skeins Spinnery hand-paint. Socks.
more sock yarn. Yes, I know, I’ve not yet completed a real pair of socks.
Rowan biggy print: 2 skeins each of tickle (hot pink) and joker (multi), destined for Kim Hargreaves’ Huddle scarf from The Next Big Thing book.
3 skeins Araucania Nature Wool in variegated greens. Clapotis?
6 skeins Noro Kureyon (color #88): bolero / cropped cardigan / shrug?
more Rowan, this time handknit cotton: 12 skeins chime, 1 skein gooseberry for the Jenny cardigan by Sarah Dallas in Rowan 37. Top-down sweater plans (i.e. bad penny) have been discontinued.
Rowan yet again: unknown quantity of yorkshire tweed chunky in damp (not pictured), flaming, pecan, and olive oil. Apparently discontinued. I have no idea what I’m going to do with this stuff.
We won’t go in to the Michael’s yarn: Lion Brand wool-ease, Patons wool, etc. Or the books I’m supposed to be reading. Or the number of times I had to re-edit this post to get the pictures in the right places. (That can’t be right, I just don’t know what I’m doing.)
What’s wrong with me!? No wonder I don’t have any money. Looking at it like this — not to mention photographing it all — has made me realize that my yarn buying is a bit out of control. The problem is, I get worried about work, fantasize about how lovely and wonderful and stress-free my life would be if only I could wear [place new pattern name here]. I immediately fixate, rush out and buy almost enough yarn (I don’t want to spend too much, you see), and then do nothing with it. Because I have too much real work to really be able to sit around all day and knit. But since I’m worrying about how much I’ve spent and how I won’t have time to actually get around to knitting it until 2010, I don’t get any work done either. A vicious, expensive cycle.
No more! I am cut off. No more books, patterns, magazines — and especially, no more yarn until what I have is gone, gone, gone.
And specials are over. I *do* want my masters, after all.
I think.
