Get 'Er Done!

• Posted on 11 June 2024
• By Anne
• 0

It's happening - the irresistible urge to dig through my mountain of WIPs and finish something. Or lots of things - my started-but-abandoned projects are seeing renewed life.

Maybe it's the arrival of spring and summer. That annual urge to clean out clutter and make life more orderly. For me, it manifests in knitting. Specifically, the plethora of projects I've started with enthusiasm, only to be pulled in a new direction with the release of a new pattern or arrival of a pretty new yarn. As a process rather than product motivated maker, 'plethora' is an understatement. Here's just a few of the WIPS that once again have my attention.

Socks, socks, SOCKS. I recently taught a cuff-down sock class. In preparation, I dug out my bin of unfinished socks to illustrate to students the various steps in the process. No surprise, I had a sock in every stage of completion. A ribbed cuff. A cuff with the leg done and ready for a heel flap. A cuff, leg, and finished flap. A sock knit through turning the heel. A turned heel with gusset, ready for decreases to begin. A finished gusset. A finished foot. And finally, a toe ready to be grafted. While super nice to not have to do any prep knitting, I thought it time to finish a few.

• Just finished number two (that's right, I have a matched pair) of Curious Handmade's Shell Cottage Socks. A lovely yet easy to memorize lace pattern that gives the impression of tiny seashells. Soft yellow with little specks of pink. Sooooo pretty!
• Almost finished with my first Hibernation House Sock (designer Lindsay Fowler). This pattern caught my eye around Christmas - it uses a strand of fluffy lace held together with the sock yarn in the cuff, giving it a very cozy slipper-like feel. I used Rowan's Cashmere Haze as the lace. You can only imagine how delightfully soft these babies are gonna be. And a treat to create - oh so nice in my hands.
• I also fell in love with Maya Davis' Sandown Socks over the holidays. Beautiful, yet simple, with a really interesting heel flap. A skein from one of my advent yarn boxes became the yarn of choice - white background with lavender and yellow speckles. I'm about to graft the toe on sock one, and have the heel flap complete on sock number two. Woot! Woot!

That's it for socks. But there are more WIPs that are getting my attention.

That darned Andrea Mowry Stonecrop Cardi. This one has seen many starts and stops - I've rescued it from the WIPs pile several years in a row. Maybe this time I'll get the body done? I'm making it from a stash golden yellow sport weight yarn, with Dyed In the Wool Melancholia for the colorwork. Slow going, as it's fingering weight yarn. And the cables and bobbles section is painfully slow going; the 4 rows only happen twice in the 64 row pattern repeat, but that's quite enough. Andrea uses a half-crochet bobble in this pattern - very pretty when finished, but a pain in the @#$%&* to knit. My goal is to have this sweater done in time for the 2025 Crawl. Wish me luck!

Finally, just to mix things up, a crochet project.

Groovy Granny Scarf. That's right - a scarf with Granny Squares. Last summer, when the Barbie movie came out, Madelinetosh released a bundle of Barbie inspired colors, all centered around their hottest new color, Ken-ergy. Several months earlier, Candi Jensen's Groovy Granny Scarf pattern was released, and I'd been mulling over color combos. I'd begun to dabble in crochet a little, finding it very relaxing. I love that when you mess up, there's no Tinking; just pull out the hook, unravel a bit, then start hooking again. Well,
Ken-ergy and his playmates were just the ticket for this groovy scarf. When I get tired of bobbles and colorwork, banging out a Granny Square or two is the perfect zen release (for me, anyway).

I'm quite proud to share that, as of today, and as this compulsion to finish things persists, I've completely resisted the urge to start something new. Let's see how long this lasts - hopefully through another pair of socks or two. Fingers crossed!