Will I ever finish anything???

I feel like I have 6 projects and will never finish any of them. sigh

The most likely candidate is G's childHood, which has the sleeves sewn in and just needs the underarm/side seams done. When that is done, I can really try it on him and estimate how the hood is coming along. Maybe 1-2" left of that, I think. Then I can put buttons & snaps on and BE DONE.

But nothing else is as close to being done. The blue cotton Tahki is slow going and I have my doubts about the way I did the decreases on the bustline (directions are vague for every row after the first--"do the same decrease" but the first decrease row gives stitch counts and there are fewer stitches after that!). And it's getting heavy. I should calc to see how many more rows I have till the shoulders. I already decided not to start the v-neck as low as they recommend, as I'm hoping to wear this in other places than the Ren Faire.

I'm completely befuddled on Branching Out. I had too few stitches on a row, so started to tink back, only to realize that I don't konw which row I put the lifeline through (10 or 1?). Ugh. It is lovely so far, though...

Birch continues to taunt me. I may put her away in the basement and start the Swallowtail shawl instead. I already have the laceweight alpaca it calls for. Ha!

How do you knit? How do you want to?

Kirsten asked the question of whether folks prefer to knit in groups, or alone.

Interesting question. I tend to knit alone (and be asked all the time, I swear by the same people as last time, "What are you knitting?" Two tubes. What could it be but socks?), but love to knit in a group, unless my pattern is complex, in which case I'll doubtless screw up.

I also love to knit with one other person, often Dharma or, lately, my new sweetie (who crochets, of course). There's something beautifully intimate about doing this together, like reading books on either end of the couch, a blanket over the two of you, feet intermingled. Mmm.

How about you? Do you tend to knit alone? What do you do to knit in a group, if you can?

Did I just do that?

I just told my gf that I 'd actually crochet to help her use up some donated yarn that her crafting group was going to make into lap robes. Me? Crochet? I must need coffee.

(Seriously, when I had to knit crochet--see that?--a border onto a square, it went quickly and I rather enjoyed it. Much to my surprise! I don't usually like the look of crochet, but doing it is fun. And only having to keep track of one loop--what a treat!)

She said it was somewhat upscale donated yarn. I can't wait. The Red Heart I keep seeing in her bag, well, it makes me cringe a tad.

I priced superwash wool for her to use on lap robes, and if I got the yardage correct (1200 yards seems extreme), it would cost a minimum of $30 per lap robe. sigh. She argues that Red Heart is so much more economical. I argue that it is better to give one higher quality lap robe than several rough ones... and the debate continues. :)

Tour of Sweaters: #1

The first sweater I ever made was for my mom. I knit it in time for Christmas. Which of course means I finished it within 2 days of Christmas.

It was a heathery off-white yarn, thick on #10 needles. The pattern was all rectangles: one each for the front & back, two for the sleeves, and one for the cowl neck. I think it was stockinette with garter-stitch cuffs and waistband. The yarn was likely a cotton and acrylic blend. I was not the yarn nazi I am today.

My memory of this sweater is of Mom storming into my room with me throwing the needles w/rectangle attached into the closet and slamming the door, and Mom demanding to know why my room still was not clean. She was quite contrite when she found out that was what was keeping me from tidying (as if I ever need an excuse).

I suspect it was somewhat shapeless, but Mom did wear it for many years. She's a sport. And I was quite proud of myself that I made it.

I'll have to see if I can find a photo of it somewhere.

Voila, Sweater #1. Slubby, cottony, cream-colored basic sweater. Circa 1976.

Update: Mom still had the sweater! It's not cottony at all. It's slubby, all right, but 100% acrylic. I told her to throw it away. Its big holes make it not actually warm, yecch!

Good progress on Branching Out

Lots of counting has made all the difference for Branching Out with the Misti Alpaca sportweight. I've finished 3 repeats of the pattern, and it looks really nice! I'm using my kacha kacha to count rows. It's been a while. I love that thing.

Tried childHood on the child, and yep, the hood needs to be larger. I'll put a few more inches on it and try him again. I don't want it to be another jacketlike thing whose hood he outgrows first.

Maybe I can finish it for him to wear to school on Tuesday!