Friday, February 10, 2012

A Fresh Start

Over the last 2 months, I have been tidying up my stash & destashing yarn that I know I will never knit with. This also gave me the opportunity to re-discover what's in my stash & I found yarn that I never knew I had. So now, I have "new yarn" !

I also decided to go through my WIPs basket & make ruthless decisions - I did !


I cast on ( picot edge cast on of 200+ sts) for Laar 3 times & still can't get the gauge right. I changed yarn, changed needles, everything & nothing seems to work. Even if I knit the smallest size, it's still too big for me, so I think I better give up & rip it. So that's 1 wip gone.


I don't know if this can be considered as a wip as this is the 1st of 3 mittens that I knitted as I worked on the design. As the final design is a simpler version, I decided not to knit the partner for this mitten. Anyway, I would not be able to knit another mitten as I don't have enough yarn. I have about 10 gms left after knitting 3 mittens - so I am ripping this.


I fell in love with this pattern when I first saw it & decided to knit the vest version. After casting on & working on the neck & looking at completed projects on ravelry, I fell out of love. So I am ripping this too.


There was a lot of talk about the sweet tomato heel when it was 1st published & I was eager to give it a go, so I cast on a sock. I just wanted to try the technique so I knitted a plain sock. I had to rip the heel 3 times & still not happy with the way it feels on the heel. When I tried on the sock, the heel did not feel right although it looked good. So I decided not to continue with the sock & just rip it.


I have been knitting this sock (a spiral tube with no heels) for the last 2 years & it's my mindless knitting when I need one. Somehow, there were not many mindless knitting opportunities & so the progress is slow. As I have already completed 1 sock & started the 2nd, I decided to carry on with this project & try to knit on it more.

This is the 1st sock of 3 socks that I knitted when I was working on the design - this seemed to be the trend when I am designing. Again, I had finished 1 sock & half way through the 2nd, so I will finish this.


This is my 1st handspun & I decided to knit the Hedera socks with it. I modified the pattern so that I can knit it toe-up. Again, I finished 1 sock & started the 2nd - it's very clear that I suffered from 2nd sock syndrome last year. I will finish the 2nd sock.

If I finish all the 2nd socks above, I will have 3 new pairs of socks this year !


This is the last wip when I joined Anni's Mystery Shawl KAL. I was good during the 1st 2 weeks & then I fell behind & then I stopped. I do like the pattern & the semi circular shape of the shawl, so I will continue with this project.

So that's it - I now have 4 wips to finish off. I am sure I can finish these within this year if I can control casting on new projects.





7 comments:

Rose Red said...

I am sure you will get those four finished in no time! How freeing it is to frog things!

2paw said...

Oh, you are ruthless and brave. It needs to be done though. I love your mindless socks. I wore my Sweet Tomato Heel socks today to walk The Labradors, they don't fit my heel either but I like the colours so I will wear them for dog walking. Happy UFO finishing this year.

Rebecca said...

Sounds like you have had to implement some tough love here. Good for you! You probably feel like a new woman!

Roseann said...

I am so inspired after reading your blog! I appreciate your thoughts on the tomato heel. Your handspun yarn is so beautiful! I enjoyed learning how you determined which projects to keep and which to rip. You will have some gorgeous socks this year!

Michelle Lee said...

Wow. Looks like there's a lot of ripping and frogging going on here!! I guess that's still considered a progress right? :P

I haven't knitted much at all this year. I think I might have lost my mojo. Eeeks!!!!!

Anyway, love that Mystery Shawl Pattern!!! Can't wait to see you finished it!!!

Bogie said...

Socks knit with your first handspun? Those will be extra special to wear for sure.

Sasha said...

Yes, I am very inspired by your post and pictures - a fresh start and reconsideration, tkaing stock of your knitting! I must do the same, and also conduct a brutal assessment of my stash... Goodness knows how many WIPs I have floating around the place, it will be great to know where they are and make decisions on them all.

You have some lovely projects there, I look forward to seeing them develop :)