Maile Sweater

Hello Knitters,

First off, I want to thank everyone for all the great support of my goals for my WIPs and for the wonderful comments about my first "WIP Wednesday" post.  You all are so kind!!  I wanted to reply to all the comments, but for some reason the reply button is only working for the first comment.  I hope to get that fixed over the next few days.  I was up late last night trying to figure it out, but didn't get very far before I had to go to bed.  Maybe when I'm more awake I can figure out what I'm doing wrong. 

Anyways, I got a picture of my Maile Sweater although the colour is showing up more blue than it actually is.  I knit mine out of Knit Picks Stroll Tonal in the Blue Violet colourway.  I'm so happy with both this yarn and the pattern!  I highly recommend them both.  I'm currently working on a pair of matching booties and then I hope to find a hat pattern to go with it, or maybe a bonnet would be super cute. 

I'm not sure if any of you watch the Winter X Games, but they started today.  I'm a big fan of them and am looking forward to watching them this weekend, and I'm very excited about all the knitting I hope to get done at the same time!  I've made myself a list of projects to work on, so wish me luck!! 

Well, that's all for today.  Have a great evening everyone!!

Happy Knitting!!   

New Rules

Hello Knitters,

Last night I had a bit of a breakdown.  I've been feeling pretty overwhelmed by my knitting the last few weeks.  If any of you have me as a friend on Ravelry, you have probably seen the rapid increase of new added projects....to tell you the truth, that isn't even the half of it.  I have plenty more projects I've started that I haven't even added to my project page.  I know, it's not a good thing, and to be honest, its quite embarrassing....but I've been getting to the point with each project where I don't want to continue for some reason or another - be it a problem, or mistake, etc. - that I just put it aside and start something new.  This was all fine and dandy for a while, but then I started to get overwhelmed by all the half-finished projects piling up.  Mom had been noticing this and mentioned something to me last night, which brought out the truth.....I was feeling like my knitting was taking over and becoming a burden, not a joy.  Mom suggested that I make a plan in the morning of how to deal with it so that I could get back to feeling in control of my knitting and getting joy out of it instead of dread.  So, with her help, I made a plan and I'm going to do my best to stick to it.  I thought I'd share it with you all to help keep myself accountable and give you a heads up on what will be going on in my knitting life over the next while. 

My Plan of Action to Get my Knitting Back on Track

1. I can only have 3 current WIPs going at once.
2. When I finish one WIP, I get to start a new project (but I can only have one new project out of the three, unless I have deadline knitting) and the other two projects have to be from the WOHPs (Works On Hold Projects).
3. I have to work from the stash unless the project calls for yarn I do not have - this does not include my Jimmy Beans Wool gift certificate I got for Christmas from my sister, that I still get to spend on whatever I'd like, it also does not apply to when the new spring Knit Picks yarns come out, or any vacation or special occasion yarn purchases.

Sounds like a plan to me!  I think it's a great way to get things back under control.  And once I'm through all my WIPs and WOHPs, then I can knit all new projects, but I'm still limiting myself to only three WIPs going at one time.  That way things don't get back to how they are right now again.  I'm so glad Mom brought this up last night, I feel like things are going in the right direction now!  I'm excited to see how fast I can get though all my projects!  At the moment I have 17 projects that are on the go, 1 that needs to be frogged and 8 that I want to start.  Sounds like I lot, so I guess I better get cracking!! 

By the way, I finished the knitting part of my Maile Sweater today!!  I just have to sew the sleeves up, weave in the ends and put on the buttons.  Pictures will be coming soon!!

Have a wonderful weekend everyone!! 

When in Doubt, Cast On

Hello Knitters,

As if I don't have enough projects on the go right now, I had to start this last night.  I really don't have a good explanation why.  Here's the best that I can come up with: all of my other projects have gotten to the point where either I'm stuck and need to really concentrate to get them moving again, or I've lost interest in them and have no motivation whatsoever to pick them up.  I was feeling very ....shall we say "unsettled" about my knitting, so I thought to cure this I would start a new project.  Isn't that the way to cure anything??  My friend Rae Lynne was saying how she was feeling a similar way and to help her get her knitting mojo back she cast on for a quick and adorable little project.  You should really check it out, it's so cute!!  She is one amazingly talented knitter and photographer.

I'm hoping that this little knit will help get me out of this rut and back to my regular knitting self.  I'll keep you all posted on how it goes. 

Happy Knitting Everyone!!