Sheep Shots

The biggest bit of unfinished business will take place over the next few days/weeks/months/years in South East Asia and survivors bury the dead and try to put their lives back together. That region was my focus during my pursuit of a BA at Penn State back in the, well, let's just say that Joe-Pa was a rookie head coach. I feel a certain pull to the region. I donated here but there are lots of other places that will accept "tsunami relief" donations. Please be as genorous as you can!

A new year is just around the corner! What better time to set goals and to reflect on what needs to be accomplished!

To this knitter, that means looking into the UnFinished Objects pile/bin/basket/shelf/cubbie and fishing them all out, lining them all up, and deciding whether or not they are worth the effort.

I currently have only five. I am not sure if that's a record.

Most of the projects are relatively recent cast ons:

Like this sock. The yarn is from Elann. It's one of their Sock It To Me! yarns. I finished the first. Cast on the second. Then realized that the patterning was so different that I couldn't live with it. I thought I had changed needle sizes, so tried a different set of double points. No luck. Same issue. I have a third ball of the yarn. In the new year, I will cast on with that. I'll make the second sock, and if it's different, I'll a) live with fraternal socks or b) cast on #3 and keep the pair that looks most alike.



And this baby sweater. I started it. I put it aside for holiday knitting. I promptly misplaced the pattern. Found the pattern. I'll finish this one very soon! It's Phentex Sport. Not the nicest acrylic in the world, but not the worst either.



And this slipper. It's for the Ships Project. I'll mail this one in February, so I can take my time. I love the yarn (Shoeller Stahl Volare, a blend of merino wool and acrylic).



And this hat. A swatch for a hand-to-hand sweater, one of Elizabeth Zimmermann's patterns. I participate in an on-line knit-along for her stuff. This swatch is supposed to lead up to the full size sweater, but I'll be making the sweater in a different yarn (I think) in a different gauge (probably), but it's a "community" sweater, so it will fit someone. This one should be finished in a matter of days. The yarn? Filati Cervinia "Sorrento," a 100% acrylic with a nice hand.




I do know that one of my UFOs has been on my carryover list since 2003. That's 2+ years on the needles. It's a loose, boxy Aran vest (from 2 Sticks and a String) that I loved when I cast on, loved when I discovered that I didn't have enough yarn (a first, truly, for me--I usually have at least 4-5 balls left over at the end of a project--I think a bag of yarn went AWOL!), loved when I posted an uncharacteristic plea on my e-lists, loved when a good soul/fellow knitter rescued me with a full bag of the same yarn (different dye lot), then languished for a full year. You see, to my eye, the different dyelot (in a natural yarn? WTF?) is just different enough. . .mine is yellowish, the new stuff has a pink tinge.

Anyway, I frogged back the front that I had picked up (from the saddle shoulder). I don't think that the dyelot will be as much of an issue if the whole front is one and the whole back is the other. And looking at the two under my Ott light, I'm not sure what the problem was any more!

So, bottom line: I'm in love again. The yarn? Bernat Club Soft. Discontinued. Sadly. A cotton/acrylic blend. Worsted weight. Look how the cables pop!



Goals for 2005:

Knit more!
Use up stash.
Try new fibers (linen? hemp? silk? cashmere? camel? ramie? tencel?)
Work with new colors.

. . .and maybe, try the drop spindle and fleece I got for Xmas 3 years ago??


And finally, happy recipients of lopi sweaters pose: