Wednesday, January 9, 2008

Unfinished Projects

I took a day off work on Monday with the intention of getting lots of stuff done: cleaning, take Christmas decorations down, cut my hair, and sort through my unfinished knitting projects in an effort to get organized. Well you know how that goes.....not enough hours in the day to do all the things you want to. I did, however, go through one closet of unfinished projects and here are a few to put on my list for 2008. (Comment: I have started keeping a log of knitting projects I start and also finish. I was thrilled that I finished 3 projects on Sunday, but after going through this closet, my joy was short-lived.)

I'm ashamed to say that some of these projects were started over 10 years ago and I had actually forgotten about them. Case in point: these 3 socks (on the left) and 1 entrelac mitten (on the right). Now I know some people really like entrelac knitting, but I hated knitting these mittens (on size 1 needles). I'm going to rip them out and use the yarn for something else. The same with the socks. The first one is way too big anyway.

Here's a V-neck Fana cardigan cardigan I used for a steek demonstration class in January 2005. I'm not sure if I have enough tan yarn to finish both sleeves and the band around the edge, plus the sweater turned out way big (about 52 inches around). If I get it finished, watch for it to go up for sale on this blog some day.

Remember this "Modern Quilt Wrap" I started last summer? Yup, not much progress here either. My original goal was to do one square a day (insert snort of laughter here).

Here are a couple of nice sweater sleeves--but no sweater body to go along with them. Sigh. Not sure what happened here....I really like this sweater pattern and need to get back to it.
Here's the last and most despised project of all--a scarf--started 3 years ago.

This scarf was commissioned to match this hat.

I made the hat to match a Norwegian sweater one of the Sons of Norway members had purchased for her daughter in Norway. The hat wasn't a problem. I designed the pattern myself to match the sweater and was done with it in a couple weeks. "Oh, but we have all this yarn left over, Ruth, would you be willing to knit a matching scarf too?" I said yes, but had a lot of other stuff going on so I couldn't guarantee when I might get it done. "Oh that's OK, Ruth, whenever....."

See the whole deal is that I have to knit it in 2 parts because the scarf will hang down on either side of the neck, the stitches have to be going in the same direction. Does that make sense? If I just knit it from one end to the other, when it's hanging side-by-side, the stitches on one side will be upside down. (This is what sucks about being a perfectionist knitter--most people wouldn't notice it, but I do!)

Anyway, my goal is to get this scarf done by the end of January (before the customer calls me again). I'm sick of having it around my house and I want to work on something more fun.

13 comments:

Lisa at Greenbow said...

I will help you all I can Ruthie... "Get those needles to clacking!" Good luck. I know you will feel better if you actually get it finished.

Lori said...

Holey sweaters, batman, that's a lot of beautiful Norwegian knitting you've got there! I'm jealous, my WIPs are not nearly so inviting!

Anonymous said...

Boy do I feel honored, I got my white hat made from sparkly yarn to wear on Sundays and dress up, or I could be a work in progress. You've got some serious work to do and it might take more then a Jan deadline. Keep knitting.
Mom

Ruth said...

Wow! Beautiful work, even if its not finished.

Larry said...

I have lists of things that need to be done all around my house.-I usually never make it past number 5 because I spend too much time birding on the weekends!

entoto said...

Your Norweigan knitting is so amazing! I am in awe.

But, entrelac mittens on size 1??? What on earth were you thinking?

And I fully support you in your FO push.

Jayne said...

You are one talented knitter, Ruthie! Those projects, finished or not, are impressive!

RuthieJ said...

Hi Lisa,
I feel better just posting this blog and actually putting all that stuff on public view. Much more incentive now to get it done!

Hi Loribird,
I am a stranded color knitting addict....I used to knit to sell and still have BINS of Brown Sheep sport weight yarn (some on cones) in my yarn/sewing room.

Hi Mom,
I'm glad I got your hat done too, but think back how long it was from the time you asked me for the hat and when you actually got it....

Thanks Ruth, I really enjoy it, but my ratio of starts to finishes is something I need to keep working on.

I hear ya, Larry....I've got some indoor home improvement stuff that needs to be done too, but at least with knitting I can sit near a window and still watch birds while my needles are clicking away.

Hi Trixie,
I took an entrelac knitting class at a knitting workshop once....it was fun at the time but the novelty quicly wore off!

RuthieJ said...

Thank you Jayne. It's good to be a knitter in Minnesota--at least I'll never be cold in the winter!

Meggie said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Meggie said...

Oh Ruthie: I'm hoping the posting alone will give you incentive to finish your projects. Two sweater sleeves and no body to go with it? I'm laughing hysterically! I thought the body got knit first?? Shows what I know. Now what other uses can there be for two sweater sleeves?

January 10, 2008 2:16 PM

barefoot gardener said...

I am SO GLAD that I am not the only one with a pile of UFO's hanging around!

I gotta say, I love the grey and the purple in the first photo. The yarn looks like it has a fabulous sheen on it!

Good luck cleaning up that stash!

RuthieJ said...

Hi Meggie,
Here's a knitting tip I learned years ago: instead of wasting time doing a gauge swatch, knit the sleeves first. The fit isn't as critical and you will actually have something done plus know what your gauge is before starting the body of the sweater.

Hi Barefoot,
The bad thing is thought that this is just one closet--there's lots more stuff in the basement!

I like those two sock yarns too, now that I've found them again. I thought I only had one skein of the purple and finding this sock gives me three! I'm glad I started going through my stuff.