Slogging to the Finish?

A few posts back, I talked about my addiction to joining things, and how it lead me to the March to the Finish Challenge (aka Monogamous March) with some of my co-fans at the Stash & Burn Ravelry group. I listed 3 targets for finishing this month - a cardigan, a pair of socks, and a sweater. I'm thrilled to report that 2 of the 3 are now F-frickin-O's baybee! :)

Valley Yarns Northampton in Charcoal Grey; 100% wool (this yarn gets 5 stars)

Used just over 1 skein (love kid-size knits!)

US 7 (4.5mm needles); knit in pieces and seamed

Black plastic buttons and custom label from JoAnn's

Pattern Generated using Sweater Wizard v3.0 (this program rocks)

Tess Designer Yarn Super Sock & Baby; 100% superwash wool (this yarn also gets 5 stars)
Used every bit of one skein, about 450 yards - I love that about toe-up knitting
US Size 0, 1, and 1.5 needles; knit toe-up 2 at a time using Magic Loop technique
Pattern is Boyfriend Socks by Alice Bell (who blogs at Slipped Stitch)

Ok, so I'm a little excited about these two.

So what then of the final albatross? The knit that refuses to be tamed. She who will not be frogged. Alas, it is my pink Jaden.

I took her out of her project bag yesterday as a step forward. She looked at me rather crossly because (a) she's getting no attention and (b) she mumbled something about the crumpling and how the bag creases mussed her stitches. Blah, blah, blah.

Ahem. This project has major guilt entwined throughout it's rows I tell you. My good friend and I started this as a knit-a-long (you must wonder if I do anything at all of my own will; I wonder that too). We fell in love with the pattern on Knitty

and talked at length about gauge and yarn substitutions, and the wonder and frustration that is cotton. Somewhere along the way though, we Just. Plain. Stalled. In our defense, figuring out decreases in a lace pattern without explicit instruction just ain't fun. Add to that our stubborn row gauge and the need for more math than anyone should endure...the project crawled to a halt. So now what?

FO coming soon - with a brand new top!

For now, I'm going to try to ride the wave of my recent finishing spree. I'm going to take hold of my KnitPicks Options needles. I'm going to put this (heavy!) cotton top in my lap, pull out my calculator and the shamefully dingy pattern copy, and dangit all, we're gonna kiss and make up. If you don't hear from me for a while...send wool.

March to the Finish

I'm a bit of a joiner. I troll my Ravelry groups almost daily and find that I'm often writing posts that say

"I'm in!" or

"Oooh, me too" or

"I soooo need this challenge right now. Yippppeee! Count me in!"....and so on.

Which in concept is fine, because that's the beauty of finding a community where we can share our goals and challenges and triumphs. Except for one little thing - I'm waaaaaay more of a joiner than I am a finisher. For all my "I'm in!" posts, I've got at least as many "I didn't make it to the goal" posts. Wait, actually, that's probably not true. When I fizzle out or run out of time, I'm usually hiding somewhere in a corner hoping no one will notice.

For whatever reason though (insanity?) this doesn't keep me from being a consummate joiner to the next new group adventure. So - forward I go into another "-a-long" of sorts, the Stash and Burn Group's March to the Finish 2009. The goal is to work monogamously on a project - or projects - until you've reduced or eliminated your list of UFO's. Those of you've who have been 'round this blog a few times will surely recognize the targets on my list:

Adachi's Cardigan, Girlfriend Socks, and Jaden

There they are - staring at me in all their blatant incompleteness and demanding accountability. I'll keep you posted on my progress this month, and if you're Marching to the finish too let us know!

Oh, and if anyone asks how I did for the Stashalong Finishing in February, or how my Vestuary vest came out or if I've made progress for the Year-Long Gift-a-Long? Just pretend you haven't seen or heard from me in a long, long time, ok? Thanks!

Out of the Closet

Best place for an elephant is right out in the middle of the living room so we can talk about it, right? Right...let's have it. I present, my unfinished object queue (those presentable enough for photographing)


Central Park Hoodie from Fall '06 KnitScene (for me)


Back now done (with short row shoulders no less!); Sleeves done; Right and Left front started


Sangria Socks (for me)


Still being neglected right now (I blame the slowness of dpns)


Plymouth Encore Afghan - a very late gift(I might just frog this and do one big one, instead of individual blocks)



Crochet Beach Bag (from Family Circle Knit & Crochet)


Felted Striped Tote (from One Skein book)


Interweave Crochet Hipster Belt - needs loops and fringe



On the brighter side...here are 2 items that were unfinished at the original writing of this post, but which have since been COMPLETED!! (Woo hoo!)

Chunky Gift Scarf:

Combined Red Heart "Soft", Berroco "Softy", and some gold novelty yarn from Kelli
Started:Early January 2007
Finished: Feb 15, 2007

Baby Sweater (for my nephew):

Yarn: Jo-Ann's Sensations Yarn in "Licorice"
Started: June 2006
Finished: February 14, 2007
Sadly, as he is now about to be 8 months old, it will not likely fit him much longer. Thank goodness I have another nephew to pass this along to (3 months old)

So there they be! Look for these to be featured in future posts as finished projects. And if they don't - you have these pictures to smack me over the head with, as it were.