Knitting boom

[spritechan]

Recently I went through my projects and was ruthless in deciding which ones I'd emotionally detached from and which ones I truly wanted to finish. After frogging the rejects, I actually had like, at least 10 projects I really wanted to finish. Here's what I've completed since like, end of November (minus this first one being Oct.):

Basic Raglan by Joji Locatelli

In Oct I mentioned in passing that I finished a sweater on the girls trip. When I finished it I thought it might be a little big, but it is SO cozy and I wear it all the time. It needed about a fourth of the bottom and both sleeves:

Love a good tweed.

Mason Jar Cozy

Mom wanted a new mason jar cozy so I whipped one up for her:

Faux cables are always pretty. This cotton yarn is so beautiful in-person too.

Cashmere Cowl

The first "reallllly hanging over my head" project was finishing up this cowl I started YEARS ago. Like, 2015/2016 years ago. I bought this incredibly decadent cashmere yarn (in fact, I bought enough for TWO cowls — the other two skeins are chilling in my stash) and started a cowl. I fucked it up a TON of times because the cashmere kept felting, I'd put it down for awhile, I lost the pattern, etc. I also had to repair a giant hole in it, presumably from moths. But! Idc, I finished it. It's still soft even if it looks like a beginner made it, not by someone who has been knitting for almost 15 years XD Steve wears it and is happy. 

The cowl is a lovely soft brown and creamy white.

Ocean Sunset Scarf/Shawl

The next languishing project was a simple lace scarf/shawl that I used to only work on in meetings when I was a teacher. I started it in 2017. I picked it up again at the end of November and worked a bit on it every day, finishing it in no time: 

I call it the Ocean Sunset scarf :)

Steve's Festive Socks

On election day I worked for 15 hours, which provided plenty of time to work on socks for Steve that I'd started months ago and had only gotten 3/4 of the first foot done previously. Steve wears a men's 13W/14 US so he has MASSIVE feet to knit for.

Such fun festive socks!

Mom's Campfire Sweater

I'm loath to post a pic of it, but last winter I knit Mom a sweater based on a Pinterest post she found — the pattern was a free Lion Brand or something pattern, which means it sucked, was misleading (the model was an XS and wearing like a L, which was not clearly stated, so the fit and choosing a size is all off and makes the pattern zero size-inclusive), and just all-around stupid. She wanted the sweater longer, so I ripped it back — the sweater was knit in pieces and seamed together, so I had to painstakingly rip both the front and back, and then I added the length in the round so I wouldn't have to seam again. I also went to make the sleeves longer but I only got through one and I think I made it worse (the cuff is tighter now), and just had to stop. Whatever. We'll see what she thinks.

This sweater is definitely cursed.

Rayures

I really thought this next project was languishing longer than it was, but at a yarn con in either late 2019 or early 2020, I bought a kit to make a Fall colors scarf for Steve. I started it in Fall 2020. I got through the yellow/light brown section and started the orange/light brown section. I stalled out when I realized my vision didn’t really match the pattern. I picked it up again in December 2021 and it flew off the needles — turns out it wasn't that big of a deal and was very easy for me to carry out my plan and I finished really quickly once I set out to do it.

Some stripes shar a background and the rest melt into each other for a seamless loop.

Steve looks really cute in it. There are so many moods depending on which way you have the colors.

What's left

• I always tend to have socks that either need the second sock or the foot — I have two pairs of unfinished socks for sure.


• Super simple summer sweater: I have a cotton sweater that I am really enjoying but just set down for whatever reason. I think I'm still on the yoke but have gotten a definite good chunk started.


• Venetia shawl: This one stalled out simply because I use digital patterns and Joji writes her patterns weirdly sometimes. For this shawl, multiple times on very short rows, I need to flip back and forth between MULTIPLE pages. I really just need to PRINT the pattern and I'm sure it will be better and go much faster.


• Summertime tee: This is a crochet top that I really want to finish, but crochet is very slow for me!!


• Hedera test: The heavily-patterned swoncho (sweater-poncho) is already long out of testing (it was due in Sept), but I am going to finish it and take pretty pictures to promote it for Stephanie. I just FINALLY finished the first contrast color section (the "stems" of flowers) — I currently have 420 stitches per round. The next part is the flowers (which I'm doing in a different contrast color), and then finally, FINALLY I will split for the sleeves (after like, another 45 rows or something !!!). I have already decided I probably won't want to wear it, but I bet it would be so cozy for Sean. My version is a blue monochromatic — deep navy for the main color, icy blue for the leaves, a kind of cornflower blue for the flowers.

This is a sample. I am just starting the first flower.

There are a few more but I would consider them long-term, like my scrappy blanket, or just purely not a priority but I haven't emotionally detached, like the crochet shawl test I did.

All in all, I've done a LOT of knitting since mid-Oct and really since end of November. Which is nice, because I barely knit at all from like June until then.