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Thursday, January 05, 2017

Upping the WIP Count

Thus far I have been resisting the urge to cast on all the things. Rather, I'm trying to take a more measured approach -- I don't object to having multiple WIPs on the needles in theory, but I'm on a deadline for at least one project and want to make sure that I'm not distracted by the lure of new and shiny things.

At this point, I have two WIPs. The first is Rainbow's Dancing Leaves Cardigan, which is moving right along. Today I reached the beginning of the waist shaping and just joined in the third color (of five total).


Normally I wouldn't take a sweater to work for my lunchtime knitting, but so far it seems to be working pretty well. I'm no longer reliant on a chart, so the knitting itself is fairly mindless and I can get in several rows while listening to podcasts and generally trying to zone out. I'm sure I'll need to give it some attention during my evening and weekend knitting sessions if I want to finish it while it's still cold enough for Rainbow to wear it, but I am definitely in a groove with it right now.

The second WIP is the Sweet Gemma blanket, which I cast on last night. I made pretty decent progress after one false start (I knit a round or two with the tail rather than the yarn connected to the ball and had to tink back), and it's possible I'll finish up the first square tonight. (No photo because we're in the midst of a snowstorm and there is no light. Trust me, you don't want to see a picture of a blurry red thing.) I have a feeling that the knitting will get a little quicker once I get adjusted to the pattern, and the first several rounds are always a bit awkward and slow when you're working center-out. Rather than starting with DPNs and switching to circulars that are progressively longer, as recommended in the pattern, I'm using a 40 in. circular needle and working the entire square magic loop. I also went down a needle size (from a US 7 to a US 6) because my yarn is DK rather than worsted. I was a bit worried I was doing something wrong at first because my knitting didn't look right, but I think it was just a case of not having done enough yet. The pattern has really started to emerge, and a good blocking will do wonders, I'm sure.

I may cast on a third project this weekend. The Mister and I have talked about going to see a movie on Saturday, so I may need a pair of socks to knit. Of course, that will require pulling out the stash bins and digging for an appropriate skeins. I know I have a ball of Arne and Carlos Regia that I bought shortly before my LYS went out of business, but it's anyone's guess which bin it's in. Clearly when our renovation project is done and the stash can be returned to its room, I'm going to have to undertake a major reorganization project. With any luck, I'll have busted a good portion of stash by then and it won't seem so big a task.

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