Perseverance is a virtue
which I would do well to cultivate. I've started knitting tigerfort a jumper (in a rather nice, fawn-coloured alpaca blend; the drawback is that it's a light 4-ply - to go round him, I have 296 stitches!). I started it back in May (the yarn was part of an awfully big lot my mother gave me out of her ginormous stash, and I though something for him might reconcile him to the extra cubic metres of stuff to store), but got bored after less than an inch. Knitting ribbing on 2.5mm needles is boring, so I started a shawl for myself (lovely blue-faced leicester wool in a bulky yarn and stripes of cream and brown) for a bit of variety. Anyway, I finished the welt and needed to change up to a 3mm needle today (I think I felt I ought to do something for him on his birthday). My 3mm circular was in a lace stole I started before I moved (it's become orphaned from the charts and I don't want to print them all out again, so it's been languishing for more than a year; I slipped it onto a different needle to get at the one I wanted, and I'll deal with the lace later). This made me wonder what else is kicking around either separated from necessary components or abandoned for a new, more exciting project...
Pink bed/house socks for me that only need sewing up. But I lost my yarn needle, and now I've bought a new one I'm not sure where I put the socks.
Plain socks for tigerfort, that are sooo boring, and are in that endless-stocking-stitch phase when I've done the interesting bits and all that's left are about a hundred rows for the leg. I think they ought to at least cover his ankle-bones!
Fancy socks, for me (Cable net from Knitty). Sadly, despite the name, they're a twist stitch pattern rather than cables, which I find tediously fiddly (difficult and tense without any feeling of accomplishment). I keep meaning to redraft the pattern as true cables (it shouldn't be too hard to do), but I never get round to it.
An entrelac scarf, in a lovely self-striping alpaca. This one is fun, but requires concentration, and I've not got the pattern memorised yet, so I can't read or watch a film at the same time.
A mohair shawllette I started at Christmas (to give me some TV knitting) - the pattern is very simple (I'm making it up as I go along), but for some reason I decided to do the patterning on the purl side, and even simple purlwise lace decreases in a cheap knock-off of Kidsilk Haze are ... interesting. I can work a row (or two: one plain, one lace!), but then my wrists get so tense I have to stop.
A feather-and-fan scarf for my mother (in Jaeger Trinity, which is like knitting with string dipped in emery powder, but it looks nice); the pattern is brain-dead, but I'm not sure where the other balls of yarn are.
Finally, my triumph of losing bits of projects - a ballet cardigan that's been hanging around for a good while. I've knitted both front pieces, the back, and a sleeve, so all I have left is one sleeve, the bands/ties, and the making up. However, I've managed to mislay (separately, and in order) the copy of the pattern, the remaining yarn, the body parts, and the newly-finished sleeve. The needles and row-counter, however, are still to hand.
That lot is from memory, so there may be more, and doesn't include a couple of things I started years ago and have decided to rip out and do something else with the yarn. The list of crochet projects in the works is also separate, although a good deal shorter.
Even more frighteningly, only a tiny proportion of my stash is actually associated with a project: I have cupboard space, and I have boxes, and I mean to have a big old sort-catalogue session, but who knows when. I may (if I'm not too embarrassed) make some sort of public announcement of the total weight, volume, or number of units. I think the fabric stash (dress, upholstery and patchwork) is far beyond cataloguing.
If anyone suggests Ravelry, I shall scream - the thought of inputting all of the data is nightmarish.
Pink bed/house socks for me that only need sewing up. But I lost my yarn needle, and now I've bought a new one I'm not sure where I put the socks.
Plain socks for tigerfort, that are sooo boring, and are in that endless-stocking-stitch phase when I've done the interesting bits and all that's left are about a hundred rows for the leg. I think they ought to at least cover his ankle-bones!
Fancy socks, for me (Cable net from Knitty). Sadly, despite the name, they're a twist stitch pattern rather than cables, which I find tediously fiddly (difficult and tense without any feeling of accomplishment). I keep meaning to redraft the pattern as true cables (it shouldn't be too hard to do), but I never get round to it.
An entrelac scarf, in a lovely self-striping alpaca. This one is fun, but requires concentration, and I've not got the pattern memorised yet, so I can't read or watch a film at the same time.
A mohair shawllette I started at Christmas (to give me some TV knitting) - the pattern is very simple (I'm making it up as I go along), but for some reason I decided to do the patterning on the purl side, and even simple purlwise lace decreases in a cheap knock-off of Kidsilk Haze are ... interesting. I can work a row (or two: one plain, one lace!), but then my wrists get so tense I have to stop.
A feather-and-fan scarf for my mother (in Jaeger Trinity, which is like knitting with string dipped in emery powder, but it looks nice); the pattern is brain-dead, but I'm not sure where the other balls of yarn are.
Finally, my triumph of losing bits of projects - a ballet cardigan that's been hanging around for a good while. I've knitted both front pieces, the back, and a sleeve, so all I have left is one sleeve, the bands/ties, and the making up. However, I've managed to mislay (separately, and in order) the copy of the pattern, the remaining yarn, the body parts, and the newly-finished sleeve. The needles and row-counter, however, are still to hand.
That lot is from memory, so there may be more, and doesn't include a couple of things I started years ago and have decided to rip out and do something else with the yarn. The list of crochet projects in the works is also separate, although a good deal shorter.
Even more frighteningly, only a tiny proportion of my stash is actually associated with a project: I have cupboard space, and I have boxes, and I mean to have a big old sort-catalogue session, but who knows when. I may (if I'm not too embarrassed) make some sort of public announcement of the total weight, volume, or number of units. I think the fabric stash (dress, upholstery and patchwork) is far beyond cataloguing.
If anyone suggests Ravelry, I shall scream - the thought of inputting all of the data is nightmarish.