Frog Pond

Welcome to the Frog Pond, unfinished sweater! I started you nearly 10 years ago, after knitting the sampler from Jacqueline Fee's The Sweater Workshop. Why didn't I realize then that the trim color did not go with the main color? Or that I would probably look like a large grape when I was finished?

No matter. I decided to rip you out months ago, but it wasn't until tonight that I finally had the courage, and time, to do it.

Rip! Rip! Rip!

In less than half an hour a foot of sweater is gone. I've weighed the resulting hanks and set them aside for another day, when I'll wash them and hang them to dry to unkink them.

RIP, ugly unfinished sweater!

UFOs

That is, UFOs that really should be FOs. I have 3, and all are small, almost finished, and hanging out in my knitting bag.

• Irish hiking wrist warmers. I need to sew up the seams and wear them.
• hot water bottle cover. I need to do a bit more knitting at the end, then sew up the seams
• my sister's headscarf. I need to crochet some ties, block, and give it to her.

I see a theme here. Apparently I hate finishing. Which is too bad, because if I had finished the wrist warmers a few weeks ago, like I could have, I could have been wearing them this entire time while we are experiencing unusually cool weather. And I could have given my sister her headscarf as a get well gift. And used the hot water bottle cover. And so on.

My personal goal is to finish all 3 projects by the end of the month. Doesn't sound like such a big deal, but some of them have been almost finished for several months.

starting before I finish

I still have to finish J's Odessa hat. I just need to sew in 2 ends, wash and block it, and send it off. Maybe tomorrow if the kids are healthy and give me the afternoon off.

In other news, I started and almost finished a wrist warmer (need to sew in the ends to that, too!) And I started a larger project: a cabled afghan. Not a large one, more like a lap blanket or something like that. I'm using yarn I got from a swap with someone in my knitting group last year. It's 100% acrylic, maybe not the best fiber for a blanket, but it might be good for the kids for the car. Which would be funny, because for the past 2 days I've done a fair amount of knitting in the car while the kids napped.

I joined a new group on Ravelry: February is for Finishing. If I don't count the afghan (which I don't because I just started it with no expectations for finishing it quickly), I only have 4 projects to finish:
-J's hat (better be out the door before February)
-wrist warmers (come on, how long does it take to sew in ends?)
-E's Mario hat (need to add Mario emblem and maybe sew ends)
-felted bear (need to embroider face, stuff, and sew up front)

Totally doable! As long as I actually do them and don't start a lot of new projects. I think part of the problem is that most of what I need to do I need to do at home (i.e. not at my knitting group), and the time I am home both without children and awake is somewhat limited. So it seems easier to start new projects that I can take with me.