Tink about It...

I've recently found myself once again surrounded by unfinished projects. A sweater with half sleeves, an afghan with incomplete blocks, a prayer shawl that needs to be frogged and de-frogged. And this is the time of year when our 1.5 days of sweater weather comes around so I am sorely tempted to start up one for myself - knowing full well that I will not finish it in time to wear this season. So what do you do when these sudden seasonal urges come over you and you find yourself caressing skeins of Noro that you know you can't dedicate time to right now (or next month, or in January...)? Seriously, I've taken the first step: I admit I have a yarn stash 10 times larger than my motivation or collection of patterns will use within a year. So now that I have identified and admitted that I have a problem, what do I do about it?

On the subject of having yarn stashes larger that fall somewhere between one's ambitions and one's realistic time and energy restraints, a sad fact exists that I think needs to be addressed. Where will your stash go when you go? My aunt, for instance, was 1)a fabriholic, and 2)Obsessive Compulsive. She left instructions concerning the distribution of her vast fabric stash in the case of her leaving this earth prior to exhausting it. Her executor, my mother, had very specific and detailed notes that told her what was to go where or to whom. Not many think of this ahead of time. (Did I mention that said aunt was Obsessive Compulsive?) On more than one occasion now I have become the distributor of fabric and yarn stashes for those family members who really just don't know what to do with their loved ones' supplies and incomplete projects. Since I am a facilitator of a stitch ministry and a contributor to several charitable organizations, I am able to assure the bereaved that these materials will be used for the benefit of those less fortunate. I'm thinking I need to include in my will where my sewing and knitting and crocheting supplies should be taken when I go. I think of it as a sort of pay it forward. I can enjoy as much of my stash as possible while occupying a corporeal space in the world, but I want to bequeath what is left to a good cause. Hmmm, I wonder if that proclamation gives me the freedom to purchase the most luscious and expensive yarns I possibly can from now on - after all, it's for a good cause in the long run!

I miss my Ravelry friends :(

I've been so caught up in school, I've forgotten how to blog and haven't been on Ravelry in forever. It gets to me at times and I want to hang the college thing up and return to my semi-simple life without weekly deadlines and quizzes. But I won't because hubster just achieved his MBA (pause for applause) and I am so proud of him. I am also so envious. Can't stop now, have to catch up with him.

Knitting continues despite school. Projects range from prayer shawls to hat and scarf for kiddo. I still haven't finished her multi-colored sweater - it is so close as to make me cry when I look at it in the bag. Nor have I managed to gather enough courage to tackle the legacy sweater for my friend - that one will have to go back to her with my regrets. Nor have I yet knit a sweater for myself! That needs to happen soon, I think. My one and one-half day for wearing a hand-knit sweater in my area is fast approaching.

Alas, but I am still here. Still knitting, still crocheting, still stitching for charitable organizations, still studying, and, of course, still frogging for perfection.

Hi, Ravelry friends! Hope to be on soon. Miss ya all!

That last bit...

Ever get to the final stages of a project and lose steam? Me, too. The sweater that began as Garter Stripes and was frogged and is currently being de-frogged into a 'top down' design is in its final stages. The Fashionista allowed me to measure the length on her and I asked, "Is this long enough, or a bit more?" to which she unabashedly replied, "A bit more, I think." ... the darling.

I like the sweater, I am enjoying working on it, but even with the addition of a few freak cold snaps added to our annual average of 2 1/2 days of sweater weather, I will not finish it in time for her to wear this year except maybe when we turn the A/C on long term in a few weeks. So I must agree with her determination that the sweater should be a bit more.

The only drawback at this point is the color combination. They are fun colors and are perfect for her, but the more time I spend with them the more they remind me of the Teletubbies. There is no yellow or red, and certainly no TV in the tum-tum. Thank goodness for that. Still, aqua, green apple, and something close to fuchsia - you get the drift.

Other projects on hand include a poodle skirt for - guess who; finally getting around to quilting the mystery quilt my husband pieced several years ago and presented to me as an anniversary gift (Thanks to http://redsatori.com/, the evil enabler); trying to stay in school - that is a whole different post!; and odd and various charity projects that are always in the making.

Have I finished my socks yet? Well, of course not! They are now above the ankle, though, which gives me the freedom of cuffing and binding off anytime I please. I like the yarn and want to use all of it, so I just keep going, and going, and going...

bloggety-blog

First of all, "Shhh!" I am supposed to be catching up on homework, not blogging. The thing is - I'm way behind and rather than being motivated catch up I seem to become less motivated the further behind I get. Don't get me wrong, I enjoy being a student and I derive great satisfaction from successfully completing my assignments, especially those I understand. I don't enjoy being behind schedule.

I don't enjoy being in pain either. I'm quite a baby about it so I've spent my time over the last seven weeks favoring my left side and avoiding typing. Avoiding typing is especially dangerous for an online student. Even now I am training the voice recognition software provided with Vista in order to limit the amount of time I have to type. Now I have a perfectly good excuse to give the impression that I'm sitting in my study talking to myself!

Fortunately, while resting, I have been able to get a bit of knitting done and a bit of crocheting, too. I still have my Swedish block socks on the needles. Kennita Tully's Garter Stripes has been knit, tinked, knit, frogged, de-frogged, and abandoned. The yarn is currently being recycled into another sweater for the original recipient based on a pattern from B. G. Walter's book, Knitting From The Top. We both are happier with this design.

I recently finished two bereavement gowns, one knit and one crochet. The church group is still working on blankets for radiation therapy patients. Our lovely friend, Ruth, suffered a stroke recently. We're praying she can join us again soon.

Enough for now. I'm off to make a cup of tea (Harney and Sons Hot Cinnamon Sunset) and then get moving again on my homework. I have a secret project that I will reveal soon it if it is successful. Keep your fingers crossed! Pictures later. Peace, love, and yarn.