Notes from the Pile

As I've been scrambling around trying to finish my MFA thesis exhibit lately (I will post photos soon), I've had a pile of knits sitting on the other end of the couch, serving as my carrot. When I got overwhelmed with ink and logistics, they were there, quietly and alluringly whispering "Soon, we will be together, soon." (Or at least this is how I imagined it in my sleep-deprived stupor.)



Once I extracted the projects from remnants of yarn, miscellaneous paperwork, and yes, the occasional packet of ketchup (things have gotten truly crazy around here lately), I looked on this lovely little pile and realized that I haven't got much actual knitting to do, so much as finishing.

And so, the status of my pile:



The Summertime Tunic. All knit. I have to seam down the two front facings (perhaps foolishly, I decided to bind off instead of whip-stitching the live stitches for those). Then I have to give it a wash, thread the ribbon, and this baby's ready for wearing. Even though it's October, the temperatures are still hovering around 80 lately, and in this one instance I am thankful for global warming, as I can pretend that my summer knit is still timely.



Tempting. Such a lovely little thing. My row gauge was off, so I needed to order a third skein of Simply Soft to finish the top of the yoke. I whipped out the last few inches and the eyelets in one night, and now I just have to seam the armholes and thread the ribbon around the top. I've tried this one on already, and it's completely different from the silhouettes I typically wear, so I'm excited to get it finished and wearable.



And remember that baby cardigan? So precious, so complete. The ends are woven in and it has been sitting on my desk, finished, for over a month now.



I want to give it a wash, then I must simply sew on buttons. I have a tutorial bookmarked, and I think I just need to psyche myself up for it. I have a particular neurosis about buttons not sitting comfortably, such that the sweater seems to strain or gap weirdly at the button band, even if it's knit in a roomy size. I have therefore been stalling like crazy to keep from messing these up, but I realize it is ridiculous to procrastinate a baby knit when there is such a limited amount of time in which said baby will be a baby.

With all these nearly complete projects off the needles, I also cast on for a new one: Cherie Amour.



So far, I'm not really in love. The lace pattern is easy, yet I've messed it up a few times. Since I've mostly been knitting at night, the dark purple makes it impossible to find the stitches I've botched, and I've haphazardly gone on with it, but this is starting to wick at me.



It looks okay, but not stunning. I don't know if it is the yarn or the pattern or that I hate knitting on size 13 needles or that I've been too scatter-brained lately to follow a lace chart (however simple), but it's not a particularly soothing knit. I keep thinking about casting on for something else or picking up one of my many UFO's just for the lull of stockinette.

As I near the end of the first ball on this one, I'm contemplating ripping back and starting over, paying closer attention and trying to enjoy the process more. The economist in me is saying no way, that's a lot of work to undo, the errors are hardly noticeable etc... but the perfectionist in me is reeling at the knowledge that somehow I've added an extra stitch and somewhere the lace isn't going to match up right.

So for now, I've got to go find my tapestry needle and get to finishing!