I checked my last post which was from a year ago. Funny, how I'm just recovering from a cold (got a lovely itchy cough) and the post begins with how my niece gave us a cold for Christmas present. This year I caught the cold a bit later it seems, no one to blame except the red-nosed office lady at work... oh nevermind!
I also checked the project list I had. I did finish Leitmotif made from Nepal. It's really warm and the winter wasn't that cold last year (and I finished it in February or March), so I didn't get to wear it much. It's also a bit itchy, which was bothersome a year ago, but now that I wore it again this winter, I noticed that either I didn't mind as much or it had gotten slightly softer so I could wear it with just a t-shirt or maybe even a tank top under it.
I also started Burning Stripes but not in the color scheme that I intended. Purely because Drops Delight in that color was a nightmare with bulky bits changing to narrow threads. Much too often. I started them in a green colorway of Drops Delight but I suppose I got bored doing one at a time and they're now hibernating. I also finished Kalajoki socks, but didn't like the finished result. They're not a perfect size and I don't like the print of the yarn (Fabel Print) so I'm using them mostly for sleep socks.
Then a job offer happened and you really can't say no to a job no matter what the progress with your thesis is... But anyways, not much knitting has transpired since last April. This autumn / winter I did start stripey socks in a heavy yarn (Novita's 7 Veljestä which is aran weight I think) but since I was doing knee-length and had to start with a guess for stitch numbers and decreases, I did one sock up until the toes. Then I got stuck because I didn't know what sort of a toe box would fit best and how fast the decreases should happen, so that sort of hibernated itself.
We have quite a few knitters in our work place, or used to have at least, so we had a couple of knitting sessions where I started knitting mitts since the AC at work and the drafty windows at home means typing with frost fingers. I started those with Drops Fabel, but the first mitt felt too small and constricting, so I didn't finish the second one. I'm so terribly bad at finishing things, aren't I? I think the major problem is that I can never get gauge and I'm never a standard size and things like socks & mitts are too often sized as just "women's" or "women's small". And one-size fits none etc. I don't feel that big (I mean, I'm not tall and I'm normal weight although not skinny), but apparently all my extremities are large while my torso is small or extra small.
I had some health issues last year which meant I missed a crafts fair I had a ticket to, bummer. My mother bought me two skeins Knitlob's Lair's Tuulen tytär. Two different colros. During winter holidays I was on a rather long sick leave and couldn't really do anything except knit or watch tv. So before Christmas I also knit and finished Åsa Tricosa's Semele. In hindsight I could've made it exactly one repeat longer but I was a chicken and didn't want to take my chances in the yarn chicken game. So the shawlette I was able to make is a bit short and I'm not sure how to wear it really. It can't be used as a scarf and it's difficult to wear with shawl pin (why do people make it seem so easy? I'd need two shawl pins to keep both ends where they should be). I did wear it at work one day, as a some sort of accessory.
But then came the -30 C winter temperatures and I just had to get mitts. So I gave myself a break and knit with a Hot Socks Spectra yarn held together with a black Fabel. Which meant larger needles and faster results! Also, two-at-a-time because I'm not doing anything one-at-a-time again. Not if I ever want to get anything finished. They were made short so they were finished in one evening. Yay! And because I had learned that they can't feel tight around the fingers, I deliberately made them loose and not "perfectly fitting". It's important that the little finger can extend without restriction when typing, or the hand gets tired. Since I had plenty of Spectra left (well, the black yarn too), I decided to make longer ones paired with a light beige yarn as the background. And I was able to use the first pair as a gauge swatch to figure out how many stitches to cast on, when to decrease etc. The first pair was a bit too loose in the wrist / beginning of palm area - not bothersome, so not "too" loose, but there's no need for extra ease there, so more fitted might look a bit nicer - so I decided to increase to the final stitch count after knitting the thumb gusset. I also did the ribbings with just the light beige yarn. Now of course I still haven't knitted the thumbs yet... Because I hate picking up stitches, it's never pretty and I need to pick 3x the amount instructed to avoid holes. I suppose I could just make them thumbless? Right now the stitches are held by two locking stitch markers, they don't really bother me either so who knows when I'll actually finish these. But I have to admit that maybe I should've increased to the final stitch count before, or maybe the ribbing is a bit too long, because they feel a bit restricting. I know they will loosen up and I can block them looser also. It doesn't feel as bad if I fold the ribbing so the mitts end at my knuckles. But the mitts I have at work are a bit longer than that and feel fine so it might be a mix of ribbing length / tightness. They're quite nice anyways.
I also started a scarf out of a bulky acrylic / wool blend in seed stitch, because I appear to be drawn to colors in acrylic yarns. I don't think it will make a very good scarf unless I continue it with another colorway. Which might not be so bad. So now it's stalled because I don't know whether I should just knit a panel with button holes and make it a neck warmer, or if I should continue, use all bulky yarn I got and make a long scarf in a mess of colors. If I make a neck warmer I could knit a matching toque. WITH A POMPOM! I heard they're super fashionable this year... (and by the time I finish that it will be another year and pompoms totally out but I'm not much of a fashion icon anyways, I wear what I think looks cute and funny :)). I'd have to line the hat though, which reminds me that I did also knit a hat after Christmas. It turned out a bit too tight, so it's a bit uncomfortable to wear. -_- But anyways, I don't like knitted hats because in the past they've a) been too loose, b) not wind proof. I hate the feeling of having a hat that covers but doesn't protect my ears from the cold wind. Toasty head + aching ears = nightmare I don't even to think about! So I think the only solution is lining. Either fleece or I'm thinking that just a stretchy fabric would do, so it wouldn't be too warm. There's something I need to learn.
I have too much yarn stashed already, I need to start knitting with them. I don't know why, but thinking about knitting and what I'd like to do, inevitably leads me to feel anxious because I'm going to be old and dead soon and I haven't had time to knit anything nice while I was still young. No joke, unfortunately. I'm too old already. The fact that I can't finish my master's thesis and that I should probably study another profession entirely (because there's no work in sight after graduation) doesn't really help with the feeling. So I like knitting very much, but I have extreme difficulties casting anything on because the yarn I'd like to do something with is never the correct weight, my gauge never matches and then there are some bizarre sizing without any real measurements. And then I'm the wrong size for that only size available and I hate life. And start to think of all the wasted time in my life. And how I'm going to die soon.
I should really link every project / pattern / yarn I've mentioned but there's no energy in me to do that.
