Baubles for All . . .

Oh, and did I forget to mention the unfinished projects?

Yes, believe it or not, I've got some unfinished knitting projects. Really. Fine. Laugh all you want, but I want to see how many unfinished projects you have. Off the top of my head there is--in no order of importance:

1) The Barn Jacket Sweater in Cascade 220
2) The Noro Basketweave Sweater which I am knitting in Classic Elite
3) A purse to felt
4) At least three pairs of socks in various stages of knitted-ness
5) A pair of Fetching Knitty wrist warmers
6) The sweater in Manos that is all knit but has a few problems and needs to be blocked
7) Oh, and the last charity scarf, which I made great progress on last night

And there are probably more if I dug around a bit, but those are all I am 'fessing to right now.

So as part of this vow to knit from my stash, I also feel this nagging bit of guilt to finish some these projects as well. I mean if I am not going to finish the project, then rip it out and use the yarn for something else. Or knuckle down and fix whatever is wrong with the project and get it off the needles.

So I tackled two things this week that I knew I could do quickly and easily. The first one was the sweater up top, which you might recognize as the Fairly Easy Fair Isle from Stith-n-Bitch Nation. Okay, so it wasn't so easy for me. I've been knitting on this darn sweater for nearly two years. I tore it out more times than I can count. I had a terrible time getting the gauge right. Now normally I sit down to knit and I'm spot on whatever gauge the project calls for, but if I start to knit a sweater--heaven help me! I can't get the gauge right to save my life. I actually finished knitting it last spring, but was so mad at it, that I never did the final seaming and putting the buttons on until the other night. And happily, it fits and is nice and warm as the weather here as turned chilly and cold.

The other project that had been nagging me was this hat. Our beloved babysitter, Jessica, has gone off to college in Eastern Washington, so I knit her this hat to keep her warm on those breezy and cold Ellensburg days. But the rise on was too long and the hat came down to her nose. So the other night, I tore it out and redid it, reducing the rise portion by two segements and redoing the earflaps. Now it will fit her perfectly, and it is off in the mail to her.

Really sometimes, it is just a simple fix to get a project moving, but why on earth is it so hard to get past that frustration and just do it? Does anyone else have this problem?

Next blog: Does buying the required yarn for a knitting class count?