UFO's To The Rescue

I was so bored at work yesterday that I was motivated to finish 3 knitting UFO's. What's a UFO, you ask? UnFinished Object. I bet every crafter, regardless of medium, has them. In the knitting and sewing world, UFO's abound. I've been reorganizing my sewing studio and found way more sewing UFO's than I care to reveal. I'm working on finishing up many of them. It is puzzling to me why some projects get set aside with so little left to do to finish. A thought for another day. I want to write about what I finished. 


Socks
I finished these 2 sock projects. 

The colorful red sock on the left is the dreaded "2nd sock" from a pair I started last summer in the Purl Hunter KAL. The mate has been in my sock drawer for 9 months. Here is the perfect example of "Why didn't I finish this?" I had 10 stitches to bind off. That was it! Bind off 10 stitches and it was completed. It took me about 10 minutes. Now why didn't I finish it? Why did I lay it aside with only 10 stitches to bind off? No clue, but it's finished now and happily united with its mate. 

The odd looking socks on the right are yoga socks. They have neither a heel nor toe to provide grip when doing yoga poses. I only started these in June so they've not been laying around long. Still I'm glad to have them off the needles and available for my weekly yoga session. 

Cardigan

I also finished this cardigan. This was a KAL at my LYS last early fall. I actually had finished this and worn it a couple of times. Then I realized that the sleeve seams were finished on the right side. Oops! It was a pain to take out the seams. The yarn is thick/thin and because the fabric is so open, the seams had been crocheted, not just regular-style seaming. So the cardi sat around for several months before I tackled taking out the seams. Then it sat around a couple more months before I resewed the seams. Again, it took me all of about 30 minutes to accomplish the seaming. And now I can wear it again. 

I know this doesn't look very exciting, but the yarn is interesting and the cardigan was knit and constructed in an interesting manner. Instead of a back, 2 fronts and 2 sleeves, this is knit in rectangles that are then seamed together to create the garment. It can actually be turned upside down and worn that way, but I think it creates too much fabric around my neck, not a good look for me. I wasn't that crazy about the color, but I was matching it up with tops I have and it looks great with a navy or dark brown knit top underneath. 

So I'm really pleased with what I accomplished yesterday. With these 3 projects complete I'm pretty sure I have only 4 projects left on my needles. 

• My Dahlia cardi which is coming along nicely. I'm about halfway finished with the 1st sleeve. 
• My Bayarri cardi. This is a challenging entrelac cardigan. It's another knitting project way above my skill level so it's slow going. It will move up in priority once I finish Dahlia.
• A simple fuzzy scarf for Miss Riley's Christmas present
• A simple g-string project to match a knitted nightgown I made a couple years ago. This is going to be one of those projects I finish up in 30 minutes and wonder why it took me so long. 

So I celebrated my accomplishments by ordering yarn for a project I'm planning. And that's all I'm going to say about that!

Knitting in Public

I am going public. Yep, it's true. Last night for the first time every in my whole entire life I knit in public.


I am not a "Knitter". I only knit. "Knitters" are people who live, breath, sleep and eat knitting and yarn. You can call out a pattern name and "Knitters" immediately know exactly what you are talking about. Yeah, that's not me. I can barely remember the name of the pattern I am working on, let alone patterns from magazines 5 years ago. And my yarn knowledge-practically nonexistent, which is why I always try to get the exact yarn called for in the pattern. I get very nervous when substituting yarns.

For being mostly self-taught, I think I am a pretty good knitter, but being around "Knitters" gives me an inferiority complex. However, last night I took the plunge and joined the KAL (knit along) group at my LYS (local yarn store). (KAL & LYS are "secret codes" "Knitters" use. I feel so cool that I know what they mean.)

I don't hang out at my LYS. I pick a pattern (usually something I find online or read about; heaven forbid I would actually peruse the pattern books at the yarn store), drive to my LYS, ask for the yarn, pay for it and leave. All neat and tidy. I avoid "Knitters" like the plague. Not because they are unpleasant people. They're not. They are very nice and helpful. I just feel so inadequate and ignorant around them.

So I was surprised that after reading about a new KAL starting up at my LYS I wanted to join in. Me? Whoa! I got in my car and drove to my LYS eager to buy my yarn and get started. I was really disappointed when told that the color yarn I wanted had to be ordered. But, o.k. I really want to do this so I would wait.

My yarn finally arrived Tuesday and yesterday evening with knitting needles in tow I made my appearance at the Thursday evening KAL. I was nervous and anxious. Would they like me? Heck, would they even notice me?

I had a great time! The group is about 15 ladies of all different ages. Some of us knit intently with little conversation. Some talked with little knitting. A couple even spent most of the time shopping for yarn. There was a lengthy conversation about sheep, fleeces (?), spinning and other stuff that I didn't understand. But mostly, we all just knit in an easy, comfortable setting. And yes, I'll be back next week.

So what am I knitting. The pattern is called The Warren Jacket. I'm using a "thick and thin" cotton yarn, taupe colored. As noted above, I can't remember the name of the yarn or the book the pattern is from.