Works In Progress (WIPs) Part I

Time to start whipping my knitting into shape and what better to inspire me than a little Noro?

So I thought I would get things going again with some current knitting projects. I came to the realization lately that I just have too many projects going at once, and not just in knitting. I have been in all sorts or non-completion ruts lately. Since my orals I have been flailing about in all directions, starting book after book without finishing any, or almost any, beginning knitting project after knitting project, only to leave most of them floundering on the needles while I move on to the next shiny new project, making plans for one exercise program after another, only to lose interest before any real results can be achieved. And these were just my hobbies. Hobbies should be helping me relax and focus on my work, not causing more flailing. Something needed to be done. So I made a list, and boy do I ever have some cleaning up to do. The list worked though, at least in terms or motivating me to get some projects completed. There are quite a few though, so chances are good this will continue to be an on-going topic. I am happy to report, however, that I have been working steadily on my grad work, meeting deadlines (only a few days behind schedule) and I started a novel and finished it up and am well on my way to the end of the next one. Wish me luck. By the end of 2007 I want to have my grad work and my hobbies well under control.

So about those WIPs, I thought I would start with a project I am rather proud of, and it is very fitting for opening this topic. When I was going through all my unfinished projects in order to make a real assessment of my knitting situation, I brought out this sweater from the back of my closet. I had knit a sweater out of Mission Falls cotton several summers ago while I was on a fieldwork research trip. I finished knitting the pieces on the road and then tossed it into a bag in my trunk because I didn't have the space on the road to seam it up. When I got home the bag went into my closet where it stayed until I moved the next summer. It has traveled with me through 3 moves and gotten no closer to being a sweater. I was determined to finish it. I laid all the pieces out, only to realize that I had clearly been in some sort of a body-image funk at the time because it was about 3 sizes too big. While it was supposed to be a baggy-knock-around short-sleeved sweater, it was clearly still too big for me. On top of that, my style has since changed as far as sweaters go and even if this had been the right size, I was never going to wear it. I took a deep breath, pulled out my ball winder and frogged the whole thing. I was proud of myself.

But what to do with the yarn, should it go back into the back of the closet, only to languish unloved for another 4 summers? I still loved the yarn. Something had to be done. I remembered a pattern I had purchased in order to stash bust and I pulled it out and cast on for Knitting Pure and Simple's Split Neck T-shirt. It is knit in the round, so no seaming problem and it was simple enough that I could work on it as my "I am too exhausted to knit, but I am too anxious not to" project. While it isn't done yet, it is almost there. The body is finished and I am halfway through the first sleeve. I even got to add my own little touch with some striping. Go me! Hopefully I'll be wearing it later in the season, when the temperatures are down from the unreasonable 105 degrees Fahrenheit they were last week.

Pictures anyone?

Raglan Sleeve ShapingBottom Ribbing with Stripe Above
It looks a little uneven in this photo but not too bad in person and certainly nothing a little blocking won't pull into proper shape.