Sunday Knitting

Having finished my Fountain Pen Shawl and baby sweater and hat, I'm down to one project. As any knitter knows, that is not nearly enough. I've been trying to decide what to make next, perusing my Ravelry queue and cross-checking patterns with the yarn in my stash. And you know, I couldn't help but notice it was much less stressful than when I look through my To Read list on Goodreads.

My list of books I want to read weighs heavily on me, as I have mentioned before. My knitting queue though, is not stressful at all. When I see patterns I like, I put them in the queue so that when it's time to start a project I go to my queue as a starting point and look through everything I have found appealing. It's not stuff I have to make and, in fact, I know I won't ever make most of it. It's just a way to whittle down the possibilities so I have a manageable list to choose from. In fact, it's exactly what I want my To Read list to be. The thing is, I can tell I like a garment by looking at it, but in a lot of cases I have no idea if I'll like a book until I actually read it. My To Read list is a great big list of uncertainty.

Anyhow, back to the matter at hand. Despite my stress-free experience with my knitting queue, I'm a bit paralyzed by indecision right now.

© Marnie MacLean
Yes to knitting hot pants.

One project I'm thinking about is Assets of Evo, a pair of shorts inspired by the work of Charles Darwin. This project seems impractical at best, but still I'm strangely drawn to it. I keep wanting to knit something kind of wacky, just for the fun of it, and while this isn't nearly as wacky as I was thinking, it might be a start.

I also have a lot of blue Classic Elite Wool Bam Boo yarn that I bought when Windsor Button was closing down, and would really like to finally make it into something. I've looked at many patterns that require DK weight yarn and nothing seems exactly right, but I think the Vodka Lemonade cardigan (which I keep thinking of as Vodka Tonic in my head) comes quite close. I'm not in love with the neckline, but overall I think it's pretty adorable. And vodka is always a good choice, isn't it?

© 2012 Caro Sheridan

Because vodka.

I've also been considering some entrelac socks, a cozy hoodie, and a drapey sleeveless top. I'm getting to a point where I've knit so many things that my sock drawer is bursting and I don't have enough space to store all my sweaters, so I need to choose projects carefully.

Another complicating factor is that I just started going to a new knitting group (Monday nights in Assembly Square if any of you are local and interested). I suddenly remember that when going to a knitting group, having a project is not enough: I need to have a project that is portable, and uncomplicated. Right now my one project is the Feathernest Raglan, which is neither very portable nor simple enough to knit while chatting without screwing it up. So at my first meeting of this group I brought a dishcloth I was making out of some kitchen cotton and felt compelled to explain that it's not my real project.

All this to say that I'm rather stalled in knitting right now, and I probably just need to pick something and go with it. My plan is to do that sometime today. Wish me luck.