I'm still slogging away at that beautiful pullover on 3s, but it's going slowly since my mind cramps after more than an hour of working on those small needles. I've been reading lots of knitting books and magazines, lately, and I've found several patterns that I adore. I ordered yarn for two of them on Webs, and I'm just waiting for it to arrive. (I was hard pressed to stop at only two yarns, and I did slip in one skein of a yarn I want to try, but I was tough and checked out with only two sweaters worth of yarn and that one single skein.)
The single skein I bought is a Rowan yarn, and the yarn specified for one of the patterns I've bookmarked, called Purelife British Sheep Breeds Chunky. Expensive yarn, but beautiful. I've also found it on Ebay, at a slightly lower price (well, $3 cheaper per skein), but before I spend a fortune on it, I decided to try it out on my needles. It's a very wooly looking yarn, and I think it makes the sweater, but again, I do live in SoCal. It's been cold here, lately ~ nights in the high 30s to low 40s, afternoons in the 60s. We almost made 70 yesterday! These temps aren't likely to last, however, and wooly yarn and hot days don't make a good marriage. So, I'm going to get one skein and decide if I love it enough to knit it knowing it won't get much use here.
Many of the knitting magazines are already focusing on spring/summer projects. To me, those are year-round projects for the most part. Hats, mittens, scarves aren't really needed here, and winter issues seem to be filled with those items. What I wouldn't give for a knitting magazine that published spring/summer patterns year round.
Having said that about hats, I have to admit I'm going to be casting on for one or two in the next week. I was reading Knitorious today, and she mentioned a hat-knitting project with political meaning. Check it out. I love this idea!
As a result of reading all those magazines, my project list is growing a lot larger. I need to find a way to organize all the patterns I want to make. And please, don't tell me Ravelry. I don't want to just list them on a website. I want a way to physically organize them, so they're all in the same place, with the pattern and any supplies I've got for the project. And considering how large my yarn collection is, possibly with the yarn for that project as well.
I thnk I need to take a month off work and spend it all organizing my knitting life. And having two months in the summer isn't really helpful, since it's generally so very hot that even handling yarn becomes unbearable at times. March or April would be ideal, but that's not possible, sadly. Maybe I'll have to work out a schedule devoting one night a week to organizing. Of course, first I'll need to find a place to organize it all into. Or maybe I'll just think about organizing it all until I finally move out of this apartment, which is too small for me. (Heh, 2 1/2 bedrooms for just me, and it's too small!) I seriously need to move, but I also seriously need to downsize my many collections (books, yarn, fabric, cooking tools, magazines, school-related materials, . . . . ) Maybe what I really need is to just stop buying things. Well, except for food, of course. But everything else that is part of any existing or possible future collection. Just say no!
So, as I sit here eagerly anticipating the delivery of my Webs order, I'll start working up a budget for myself that severely restricts my spending. Wish me luck!
