I covet yarn

But I can't buy any until I've finished (or made considerable progress on) my multitude of projects. (This is according to Hubs, as I would go without food to purchase yarn.) I've only been knitting for about a year and a half but I've become crazy about it and it consumes much of my thoughts.

Some projects I have completed:

A scarf for Hubs in extrafine merino -- mock cable pattern. This is where I learned that left handed knitters (those of us who use the left needle as our working needle) have to rewrite directional patterns to make sure they flow in the same direction as intended. I still like this scarf.


A basic hat for myself in alpaca (very soft!) although I should have made the band a bit tighter as it's now stretched out a bit.


The Clapotis scarf designed by Kate Gilbert -- in a lovely (and expensive) 50% silk, 50% wool blend...my favorite finished product thus far


Fetching gloves by Cheryl Niamath -- this was my first real cable project and very quick and fun to knit. The pattern calls for a single ball of Debbie Bliss cashmerino but it has been updated to say that you may wish to purchase a "just in case" ball. Because I am so cheap I decided that I could only buy one (also knowing that I knit fairly tight) but I became very nervous and thus the second glove was knit much tighter than the first...if you look closely you'll see the right hand glove is a tad bit smaller than the left. (Oh and yes, I had pleanty of left over yarn for my efforts.)





current project list:

bamboo skirt from Knitty
-- which although I love it looks wise, is a tad dull to knit (st st for the most part) which is why it's not finished
mini-afghan for niece's baptism present
-- purling the whole thing (for a looser garter stitch....entirely mindless knitting due to proximity of baptism) and using acrylic (which I don't like but it's soft and for ease of wash-ability) in bright colors
squares for blankets for Hands on Nashville project team (knitting on the West Side)
-- these often take precedence as I hate to not have a square finished by the next meeting time, and because I use them as an opportunity to try new techniques

projects started with no end in site as to finishing/may never be finished and ripped out:

two cotton swim suits
-- one was unfortunately stolen by a sweet 9 month old golden retriever during a trip to the dog park and unfortunately was covered in mud. The other was abandoned due to running out of yarn mid-suit and then finding color to be discontinued!
merino lace scarf
-- probably will be finished and given as a present to someone at some time. I love to knit lace, but I've found I most always don't pay enough attention and end up forgetting a yarn over thus resulting in not enough stitches on the needle.
weird silky yarn scarf/I don't know what
-- purchased for my first lace project, started, sucked, started again, sucked, decided just to st st, and then figured out lace midway through. Will be ripped out entirely and something new will be done with it.

projects I am dreaming about starting/project for which I covet yarn:
I have mentally and somewhat on paper begun to design two (well really three, or four, no the last is really not well thought 2 1/2) items which I can't wait to begin knitting (if they turn out decent I may try and get them published...we'll see)
skirt for fall/winter with matching clutch
-- I plan to use a bulky yarn for this (yea quick knitting), but the one I want to use has beautiful drape
formal dress for summer/spring
-- this is going to be knit with fingering weight yarn (I want it to be very light, almost gauzy, I was considering lace weight but thought I may go insane) and thus will take F-O-R-E-V-E-R, but I have a really cool design in mind (well cool in my mind) and I just taught myself a new stitch pattern (thank you HON squares) which will be perfect!
caplet/jacket/shawl
-- in black with cool accents from a trimming store.
a suit (maybe for my PhD defense?)
-- clearly I'm getting a bit ahead of myself here.
Additionally I have a few patterns I want to make:
Teriokhin swing jacket from the Spring '06 Vogue Knitting
-- This calls for worsted weight yarn, but I think I want to knit two strands of fingering weight of different colors together...we'll see how this looks
A sweater for hubs
-- I may knit this in a merino/cotten blend for a bit more warmth. I'll have to carefully examine the pattern to make sure I don't have to switch things for a left handed knitter.