Lazy Knitter Syndrome

Ay caramba! It's now midway through November, a little over a month until Christmas, and I haven't made significant progress toward getting my gifts done. Especially that damn blanket or Rob's vest. And don't get me started on the girls' dresses, which will now make their debut sometime next spring. Here I thought I was in a zone and getting everything done, but I'm not sure if that's going to happen. I may not even have enough yarn to get the blanket done, so I'm a little panicked right now.

Maybe it's inertia - I don't want to find out if I don't have enough yarn, only to know for certain that I don't, then I'll have to run up to Boulder to Shuttles and get some more Manos, if they have all the colors I need. With Niki's dress, she now may be too big to wear it...and I really don't want to start again.

I'm actually home sick today from my half-day at the school, but am I knitting like a crazy person?

Nope. I'm doing my freelance copywriting work and trying to get my self-marketing efforts off the ground. It would be nice to have some writing clients help fund my yarn addiction for a change :-)

I do knit, but I'm only getting little things done. Maybe if I'm up to it, I can get something accomplished this afternoon and evening, while watching Keith Olbermann, Rachel Maddown, Jon Stewart and/or Stephen Colbert.

Want to get something done!

I don't think I have knitting doldrums now, but it's hard for me to feel gratified by what's on my needles. I guess that's what happens when you get into making an blanket that's actually really cool, but everything else falls by the wayside.

So here's a partial list of what still needs to get off the needles: Rob's vest, Jenna's linen dress, Niki's cotton dress, my fair isle mitts, Edna's scarf, Blair's scarf to match the hat she got for her birthday (which hasn't been cast on but needs to pretty soon here), my and Rob's socks (two different pairs, not a shared one), Patsy's mini-shawl. Eeek!

Luckily, I do not have to start Rob's niece's socks or his nephew's hat yet. My sister in law (their mom) said I could make them birthday presents for next year. Dodged a bullet there, Thank God.

Another thing: I haven't been on Ravelry for a while now...I think the novelty of it is wearing off. I still check it everyday to see if there's a topic that strikes my fancy, and every so often I do respond to something. But I guess other things are just kind of taking over, like my writing and wanting to get it going, once and for all. It's all a matter of priorities, right?

Still getting out from under

This summer, I made a pledge to myself that I would get a bunch of WIPs done. Well...I really only managed to get my sweater done, plus a hat for Blair, but nothing else. I've completely neglected the socks I was making for myself and Rob, but I think it was just overwhelm that prevented me from finishing everything I wanted to.

I'll start with the girls' sundresses. They will probably be ready for next spring, but not any time very soon. Here's Jenna's:



and here's Niki's (this is actually the second half of this one - I really have made more progress on this one than what's shown):



Rob's vest - this one may actually have a chance to get done by the end of October (yay!):



My tank top (again, another item that will have to wait until April 2009, at best):



And finally, a UFO that is making a reappearance: Rob's mom's blanket, which I just pulled out last night because it's good mindless knitting - and it's her Christmas gift. Now that it's October, I better give a move on this one.

Getting taken in by Ravelry

Like just about every other knitter, I've become obsessed with Ravelry, the online knitting/crochet community site. I go on every day, checking for new posts, chatting with other obsessives, and organizing my stash, needles, projects, the "queue" (projects in waiting) - my God, it could easily take over my life!

Knit-wise, I've made a lot of progress on projects from last spring, such as Rob's vest:



and that baby cardi for my work colleague:



I just think it's totally cool to keep track of my progress in cyberspace!