Do you ever have that feeling that there's just a few more things going on than you can keep track of and there's always something that you're forgetting?
I feel like that too often. These days I've been feeling that way about all the knitting projects I have underway. In the grand scheme of things I don't have that many WIPs (compared to some people) but combined with the chaos that is life around here lately it's making me feel dazed and confused.
So, in an attempt to feel less lost, here is a list of WIPs:
1. Dale Baby Ull cardigan for Buddy - I purchased the yarn for this in February. It is knit in the round and the body is completed. I have started one sleeve, and it works up fairly quickly. This will be the first time I've ever worked a steek, so I will likely get bogged down when I get to that point! I am making the size 3 and my gauge is a little bit larger than spec so it is a little bit big. Buddy is 2 1/2 now, so I'm hoping he'll get at least two winters' wear out of this, if not three.
2. Ribby Cardi - the body is done and the sleeves have been re-knit to a longer length. I want to reblock the pieces before proceeding - I blocked the body a little too big and the sleeves not enough. Then I have to seam, pick up and knit the collar, and insert the zipper. I've put zippers in sweaters before but never in a way that I was satisfied with, so this will need to be a deliberate and well thought out process if I'm going to be happy with it.
3. Mystery Stole 3 - I'm making slow and steady progress here. I think I'm on clue 4, but I'm too tired to get up and check. I haven't met any hurdles with this yet, and I don't expect I will. I've scanned through the rest of the clues and I plan to knit this with the asymmetrical wing as designed. I have enjoyed this project; while I might not have picked this to make if I'd seen the whole thing up front I think the "mystery" aspect of it has been a fun exercise in letting go and just enjoying the process.
4. Socks for the Italian - I'm about halway up the foot on these. I'm working them two at a time on two circulars and while I enjoyed this technique the last time I did it I am not enjoying it as much now. I think it's because the stitch pattern I'm using is a little bit more snug on the needles so I have to spend more energy pushing the stitches up onto the tip part of the needles, and that's not very entertaining. I think I may try switching to dpns and see if they are less of a struggle. Of course I'll have to make sure that there isn't an obvious change in gauge, but I don't think that will happen.
5. Serrano - I haven't picked this one up in a while. The body is knit back and forth in one piece, and I think I've got about six inches or so done. This is a pretty easy knit, although figuring out the side shaping decreases without messing up the lace pattern takes some thinking. I tinkered with the size on this one a bit; I am a classic pear shape so I started with one size on the bottom, decreased down to a smaller size at the waist shaping, and plan to increase back up to a third size for the upper part. Hopefully it will fit! I have a long history of preferring my knits (in fact, all of my clothing) to be big and loose. In the last year or so I've been shifting toward clothing with a closer fit, which presents more of a challenge in making hand knits, and I'm on the steep part of the learning curve!
6. Toy octopus - I started this a while ago, it's the octopus from Kath Dalmeny's World of Knitted Toys. I've got all of the pieces knit (all eight legs!) and some of the pieces stuffed. I still need to stuff the legs, sew them to the head/body, and sew the face on. Ideally I'll get this done for Christmas, but it's been languishing for a while.
7. Wrapped in Tradition - this is a lovely capelet pattern from Wrap Style by Interweave Knits. I started it a while ago and then got caught up in the Mystery Stole and set this aside. I'm making it in Kid Seta, which is kid mohair and silk (it's similar to Kidsilk Haze). The color is a soft, pretty champagne color, very atypical for me. The construction is intriguing and I have nothing like this in my wardrobe, so it will be interesting to see how/when/if I wear it!
That's all I can think of, and I'm not home now to go rooting for all the other little projects that I haven't finished and have forgotten about (like the bag I started for my sister-in-law, or the bag I made for myself but decided to put a zipper in, or... well you get the idea!)
Sorry for the lack of photos, but I'm away and don't have any way to upload photos. Assuming I had taken pictures of all of these projects recently (or at all), which I haven't!
