Last Saturday night, while knitting, I managed to actually poke a hole in my left
index finger. That's right. After this lovely, painful experience, I will
never make socks on size 1 needles, ever again. In fact, I don't
think I'll ever knit anything that requires smaller than a size 2, just as a
precaution.

Over the weekend, after finishing the Shapely Tank of Minor Disappointment, I have picked up Banff again. I already had the back finished and 10 rows of the bottom ribbing on the front started; I now have almost finished the front ribbing as well as having cast on one of the sleeves. I did that because I didn't feel like I was making progress on the front, and I wanted something that will go quicker.

Even better, continuing the trend of picking up unfinished projects, I took
the irish hiking scarf with me to the doctor's office and managed to get 6
rows in. Not a whole lot, but hey, it's progress!

See, I think I have made an unconscious agreement with myself that I cannot
start any new big projects (such as Samus, regarding which I am still torn
over color choices) until I finish the ones I've already got started.

I even managed to finish a sock and not immediately cast on for another one.
Gasp.

Actually, after socktoberfest, I think I'm a little bit burned out on socks.
I know I am suffering a bit of second sock syndrome, because I've got a
small stack of lonely socks sitting on top of my yarn.

In addition to Samus, there are several other projects I'm considering.

One is a free pattern on elann.com - the orange-colored tape/ribbon top
that's one size fits all. Well, all but me. But looking at it, I figure if I
put another repeat of the wavy shell motif thing on each side, it will be
big enough for me. And since it's knit in a rectangle with minimal
finishing, I don't have to worry about how changing the pattern will effect
other things. Best of all, Elann sells the yarn in approximate 1-pound cones
(and the pattern says you need 3/4ths of a pound) for around $35. That is
definitely within my budget.

I was looking at Berroco's website as well, since they have quite a few
patterns that go up into the 50-inch-plus range. There are two or three,
whose names I am forgetting, made with their Zen yarn that I am loving. And
I love the Zen Colors Edamame colorway, it's this green and gold mix... the
problem is, at $10-12 a ball and needing 11 balls? Expensive. Probably too
expensive.

I actually discovered these while looking for something to do with the 13
skeins of olive-y green elann sonata cotton yarn I bought. Don't get me
started on the color, either, I'm still pissy about that. On their webpage,
it was a sort of army green called 'fresh pesto', but when I got it, it was
far more dull and had far more brown and grey in it. I may use it to make a
modified 'shapely tank' - I'm thinking, keep the garter stitched bottom
edging, but knit it in the round, knit it longer, and omit any waist
shaping.


Which brings me back around to something else. Blog-hopping, I see so many
people doing projects that look massively complex. Crazy Aran-style cables.
Huge lace shawls with 30-40 row repeat patterns. Insane fair isle or
intarsia with dozens of colors. It's, well, quite a bit discouraging to
someone like me.

See, for me, I like projects that are easy, simple. Knitting is part of my
decompression - I want something I can do that is not the sort of project
which requires constant consulting of the pattern. This is probably why I
make a lot of socks - I've memorized a basic pattern for them.When I come
home from work, already on the verge of overload most days (Once again, I
don't think that unless you are an Aspie yourself, you will never understand
the level of stress just the daily grind of work and social interaction
causes for us - it's to the point where most of my weekend is spent in
decompression mode, which is why I haven't been to a KIP for months), the
last thing I want is to sit down with a remotely complex pattern that I have
to read and reread and still fuck up and then spit, hiss, and swear while
ripping back until I toss it at the gorram wall and leave it sit there for 3
months BECAUSE IT IS BEING PUNISHED FOR BEING BAD.

Er, anyway. I want something that will allow me to be creating something,
something useful, that doesn't take very much thought. Something to let my
hands work on autopilot while I zone out in front of the computer watching
anime.

Some may look at this as not challenging myself, or taking the easy way out.
But who the hell said knitting needed to be challenging? Or, alternately:
'You call knitting for a 51 inch bust NOT challenging?'.

Anyway, sometimes, I do challenge myself. I am still a novice, only been
doing this for about a year. I consider myself to have advanced greatly in
that period - there are many people who never learn to do much more than the
boring old garter stitch scarf. There are people who have been knitting for
decades who are still afraid of making socks. I've made probably 15 pairs
since thanksgiving of last year. Not shabby for a n00b. I made 2 children's
sweaters for this year's Dulaan, and I successfully completed a lace scarf.
Not only that, I did knit myself a shirt, even if it did not come out as
well as hoped for. And countless small projects, like hats and scarves and
mittens. So what if they're not latvian mittens? Or if some of those scarves
contained novelty yarns? Or if I use the same basic pattern for all my
socks, and I don't get fancy with cables or lace? And I still can't figure
out intarsia?


Maa. Oh, before I forget, scanning patterns and whatnot always makes me
seethe with loathing for ponchos. And boleros. And capelets. And whatever
awful-looking fad-trend is hip this year. No, thank you, I don't want a book
or magazine filled with patterns for that crap. Who the hell out there is
convincing women that these things look good on ANYONE? Just the about the
only thing of this category I can forgive is the shrug. That has some
valuable functionality - but I may think this because my shoulders and arms
frequently get cold, but putting on a sweater would make the rest of my
torso hot, and shawls just don't stay in place. However, that piece of shit
cleaves atrocity from this spring's knitty still needs to die.