2 posts tagged “guilt”
In a previous blog entry, I mentioned something about having too many unfinished objects (UFOs). Here they are, in order from earliest start date.....
One should always have a spare baby blanket on hand; at least, that's my belief. One never knows when someone in one's circle of acquaintances/friends/family members is going to procreate. Although I'm getting to the age where it's now the children of my acquaintances/friends/family members who are doing the procreating. But I digress.
I started this blankie on August 17, 2008. Thus far, I have finished the three squares seen below:
At least they're blocked. And only 9 more to go...
On August 23, 2008, I had the bright (?) idea to lead a crochet-along for this adorable crocheted Pomeranian. Didn't have too many followers, so my leadership skills are questionable. Especially since my version of this project stalled right at its assembly stage. Yes, I finished all the pieces by September 6, and then it sat there. And sat there. And sat there some more. Today I officially put it into hibernation on Ravelry, and offer you this photo of a dead project:
After all this time, the poor Pom is still in pieces, and I seem to
have lost not only one of its legs, but also my interest in finishing
the thing. I still have plenty of the yarn left over, though, and I may
re-make the leg and actually assemble the poor benighted misshapen creature, or just
start the project all over again. Someday. Maybe. But don't count on it.
And then there's the Petunia Tote from Interweave Knits Spring 2007 issue. I cast on for this sweet shoulder bag October 16, 2008, with the intention of giving it to one of my sisters-in-law for Christmas. Obviously, that didn't happen.
The knitting bit is done; the bag is blocked; the lining is almost finished...All I need to do to is add a pie-shaped wedge to the lining to make it fit correctly inside the bag, and sew it in. By hand. Now, I am no stranger to a whip stitch, but I don't like handsewing anything, unless it's decorative, like embroidery for embellishment. And so the bag sits there on the project table. Waiting patiently. *sigh*
Spouse's Treads socks were begun on December 17, 2008. They were also supposed to be a Christmas present, but weren't anywhere near finished on Christmas Day. I wrapped up the two balls of yarn along with the two or three inches of cuff then accomplished and presented that to him instead, with the promise that I would get them done as quickly as possible. The project went along smoothly enough: I finished the looooong cuffs, knitted the heel flaps, turned the heels, and then the damn socks misbehaved.
Spouse asked me about them the other day. I told him they were in timeout. "Because they were bad?" he asked, incredulously. "Yes, they were bad and I'm mad at them. Although I'm much less so than I was, and they may be allowed out of timeout very soon." He shook his head in that way of his which indicates: "It's a good thing I love you, because you're certifiable and no one else would put up with this sort of nonsense."
On December 30, I was so sick of knitting knitting knitting all those blasted Christmas presents that I desperately craved a crochet hook. Did I pick up that baby blanket again, or finish the Pom? Nooooo. I started the Cable Rerun blanket from Crochet Today!'s Sept/Oct 2008 issue, using my beloved Bernat Berella 4.
I've actually made decent progress: three of the five strips required are finished and the fourth strip is well on its way. I have high hopes this will be finished in the not too distant future.
On January 20, 2009, I was ready to pick up knitting needles again and cast on the Duo Cardigan, so named after the yarn (from Jarbo Garn). The pattern is improvised from Ann Budd's Knitter's Handy Book of Sweater Patterns, with a seed stitch border and plain stockinette stitch for the body and sleeves, the better to show off the self-striping colorway.
The bottom half of the body is done, and one sleeve is partially done. So we're making reasonable progress. This is the project I've been spending the most time on recently. Easy mindless stockinette stitch: no thinking required.
And finally, on February 3, I added one more project to the list: A shawl. No, not for me. I'm not a shawl person, remember? For a friend.
I'm sort of winging this one without a pattern, and I think I might have made it too wide. If I run out of yarn, I'll know I made it too wide and have to frog it and start over. Let's hope I don't run out of yarn.
Seven. Unfinished. Objects. I've told myself I have to finish four of them (the shawl, the cardigan, the socks, and the afghan) before I start anything new.
I don't know if I can do that. That stashed Mirasol Cotanani has been calling my name for quite a while now, and it's getting louder...
I have found a new beloved LYS.
Generally, I like to support local businesses; so, unless Michael's is having a huge sale on an ordinary yarn that I love (like Bernat Berella), my yarn money goes to the Sew-So Shop in downtown Marysville. The staff is friendly; they have a good selection of Cascade and Plymouth, and other basic yarns; they generally have some really nice yarns from Noro and Crystal Palace; and they have a discount program: spend $100, get $10 off your next purchase. I like that.
However, most of the time that I'm looking for a particular "fine yarn", they don't stock it. They're more than willing to order anything I want. And I'd never had any trouble getting what I wanted.
Until now.
I had decided I wanted a particular Rowan yarn for a particular project. Sew So doesn't stock Rowan. Any Rowan. At all. So I asked the owner to order it for me. "Oh! I don't have a Westminster distributor. Let me check on that. If I can find one, I'll order it."
That was December 1st. As of Friday, January 9, she still hadn't found a distributor nor ordered the yarn. The same day, I discovered that a store in Rocklin not only had that particular yarn in stock, but had it on sale for 20% off. Guess where I went yesterday?
Oh. My. Word.
I thought I had died and gone to yarn heaven. Beautiful beautiful beautiful yarn as far as the eye could see: bins and bins and shelves from floor to ceiling of Rowan, Debbie Bliss, Adrienne Vittadini, Jo Sharp....Click here for their product line. "This," I thought to myself, "is what a yarn shop should look like!" And, as an extra bonus, they have back issues of lots of knit and crochet magazines. Instead of sending their unsold issues back, like most places, they keep them and continue to sell them. Philosophy: sooner or later someone is going to want to use a pattern from Vogue Knitting Winter 2003 or Interweave Crochet Spring 2005, and may not have the issue available to them any other way. What an incredibly wonderful idea!
I found the Rowan Summer Tweed I wanted, but continued to look around. I ended up going home with Jo Sharp's Silkroad Aran Tweed, and a new favorite place to buy yarn.
But. Here's where my overdeveloped sense of responsibility comes in.
After the last couple of years developing a relationship with the people in Marysville, I feel guilty for loving Filati and wanting to shop there instead. Filati isn't exactly local to me (it's a 70-mile round trip), and Sew So is much more convenient (it's between my home and my office, making it easy to stop by after work). But Filati carries all the luxury yarn I could ever want, in stock. Where I can take it home. Today.
When it comes to yarn, I'm an "instant gratification" junkie.
I suppose the answer is to continue to buy relatively ordinary yarns like Cascade 220 at Sew So, but to drive to Rocklin when I want something really special. That's an acceptable moral compromise, isn't it?
So why do I feel so guilty?
