Discontent

I noticed last night that I have not knitted in almost a week. From about the 14th until a couple days ago, things were frenetic at work. I was too tired in the evenings to knit -- at least, that's what I told myself. Last night, however, I had time to sit quietly on the sofa with my knitting bag and reflect. I did not want to pick up my knitting.

Oh, it's not lack of desire to knit -- I want to knit -- and it's not lack of enjoyment -- I love to knit. No, this is no knitting ennui.

As I sipped my ginger beer, I realized that I do not like any of my current projects.

• Cherie Amour feels like a chore I've left unfinished. It's not entirely flattering, but it is functional. I knitted flutter cap sleeves for it, but as I went to sew them on I re-evaluated my simple bind-off and I'm not sure I like it anymore. And as I held up the sleeves in the mirror, I'm not sure the cap sleeves do anything for it.
• I took the cardigan for Mom out of hibernation about a month ago. I have been working on it in fits and starts. It's mostly that I dislike working with the yarn. It was fine when I started it over a year ago, but since then I have developed a general dislike for working with novelty yarns. I keep thinking that the colors and herringbone pattern are lovely -- if only it weren't fuzzy. It would be great worked up in an aran-weight wool.
• A few months ago, I put down a navy basketweave sweater (Sirdar 1521) that I had started for my nephew. The yarn is great, the pattern looks wonderful, but it is S-L-O-W going. I couldn't justify the time I'd spend knitting a sweater that the child -- who, at 18 mos, has a larger wardrobe than I did as a teenager -- may never even wear. The blankets I made for him have been well-loved. When he gets older I'll knit him hats and mittens and things.
• I cleaned out my in-process knitting bins (those 8x12x6" canvas organizing bins you get at Target) and found: the completed Short Row Ring Wrap, the still-in-process Two Socks on One Circ "Sugar Maple" socks, a nearly-completed Baby Surprise Jacket (which needs only seaming and buttons), the beginnings of a hat I told Bryan I'd knit him about a year ago, sundry balls of leftover yarn in various fibers and sizes, and a sachet of dried lavender.
  

So, the logical gears started turning... since I knew what I do not enjoy knitting, I needed to figure out what I do enjoy, and focus on that. I thought about the projects that I liked best -- the ones in which I either loved the yarn, the process, and/or the finished product.

My favorite finished objects are the Firmaments Shawl (ravelry link), the Icelandic Yoke Sweater (ravelry link) and the Crinoid Shawl.

The Firmaments shawl is the most beautiful thing I've made, and I actually enjoyed the process.





The Icelandic Yoke sweater was a breeze to knit; careful planning ensured that the colors and shaping turned out just right, and it's nice and warm in the winter. It is what made me love Elizabeth Zimmerman. I'd really like to knit another one like it and steek it so I have a cardigan.




The Crinoid Shawl was possibly the most boring thing I've ever knit. It was a brainless knit the whole time. But the finished object is stunning; I enjoy wearing it and I get a lot of compliments on it.

Based on these criteria, my next project(s) will be: a wrap/shawl, probably involving some kind of lacework. It may also involve a cardigan or jacket that I can throw on around the house to keep warm in winter.

Also, I decided that it's not worth suffering through knitting with a yarn I don't like (I will make an exception for Mom's fuzzy jacket, because that was promised before I had better judgment; the sooner I get that thing finished, the better). I pulled out a skein of Silk Road (50/50 wool/silk) and wound it into a cake. I had so much fun last night sitting there with the beautiful skein around my knees, cranking the ball winder, watching the second part of John Adams.

I don't have pictures of it yet (that's on the agenda for tonight: download pictures from camera!). But to make up for it, here's a good old-fashioned apple pie that I baked for DBF's family last week:

the little blobs are supposed to be acorns, to go with the oak leaves.

Hooray for fall!

If Tinking is Technology, I'm A. Afarensis.

Thanks to Anne, my co-conspirator in fiber adventures, and Lindy, my tea swap pal, I have signed up for the Mystic Waters KAL. I think it would be a good project to use up one of the blue laceweight yarns I bought this weekend from Lisa--probably the Baby Alpaca Lace. I'm knitting SotS with that in purple right now and I love working with it.

Speaking of SotS... I cast on my first point yesterday, and worked on it for a while. I tried slipping the pearls on with a flexible wire beading needle, which worked great. The problem was that the yarn was doubled going through the pearl. This meant that more often than not, the yarn got stuck inside and--as metal is stronger than alpaca fiber--the beading needle would end up cutting the yarn on its way out. The upside was that the pearl was securely fastened, even if it was bobbing in the wind. I fixed them with some clear nail polish. I'm going to let them just hang loose for now, because I love the way they look, color-wise, with the yarn.

[Courtney forgot to add a picture]

Yes, there are some mistakes... I attribute this to having been a stubborn and intractable child; I never learned to count properly. The Man told me I had to learn. Of course, The Man wanted me to learn multiplication and long division, too. Yeah, I showed the system what's what. Now I'm an accountant and I have an adding machine. So go ahead, buck the establishment. Take a look at your local newspaper or elected official--most of those kids never learned proper grammar and they still became journalists and Congressmen. We have calculators and spell-check for a reason.

Unfortunately, there is no technology that can cover your ignorance in lace knitting... yet. Unless you count tinking and lifelines as technology.

I finished the Crinoid Shawl! I know, I haven't posted any pictures of it since I cast on. That's because I've only pretended to be working on it, and now I've pretend-finished it. No, seriously, I'll take pics and post those soon.

Since I've finished one thing, I want to start another. According to my Ravelry queue (how I love that thing), Cherie Amour is up next. But considering current projects, I want to do a little finishing before I cast on for something new. So instead of a fall sweater, Cherie Amour may be my new spring sweater.

On a completely unrelated note:
I don't know why I love hedgehogs so much--I've never even seen a real one. Blame it on a childhood involving lots of Beatrix Potter.

I saw the captioned one on I Can Has Cheezburger?.

Concise explanation of the post title: Australopithicus afarensis is thought to either be an ancestor in the development of Homo sapiens, or a side branch that never evolved further. A. Afarensis did not have stone tools (which are considered to have been a big step forward in human evolution). Please connect the rest of the dots yourself to see the whole picture.