Sunday, April 05, 2009

Finishing, finishing, finishing!

It seems like lately, I'm obsessed with finishing projects. Hmmmm, I wonder what ever could be the cause of that?


Example 1: Baby Blanket

Just over 3 years ago I started a blue baby blanket for my cousin's son. It was to be one of TWO blankets as they were expecting twins. The pattern, "Prairie Blanket" from Oat Couture, was lovely.  But somehow, I felt like throwing the entire thing out the back door when I worked on the blanket as the pattern was quite involved and not really a "quick knit".  A quick knit is something you definitely need when making blankets for TWINS!

During the making of this blanket, I visited my cousin's house. His wife took me on a tour of what would be the nursery. Upon opening the closet, I quickly realized that these children would be set for blankets for the REST OF THEIR NATURAL LIVES! It seemed like every lady from their church had knit or crocheted blankets for the twins. (Mind you, there was a lot of acrylic in that closet, but with twins, I'm pretty sure that ease of washing is more important than anything else.)

Seeing that closet was all the incentive I needed to put the blanket in a time out. A time out that lasted up until January, when we discovered that we would be having a boy.

I pulled the blanket out of the basket where it had been gathering dust for 3 years and found my place in the pattern before I changed my mind.

3 years + in the making


Yarn: Rowan All Seasons Cotton

I'm very happy with this blanket. It does have a bit of a skew in it as my tension has changed, but I'm hoping that it will come out in the wash.

Note:  We will not discuss what wonderful knitted things these children received from their cousin, because stress is not good for the baby.


Example 2: The Kermit Klogs.

I can't even remember when I started these clogs from the Fiber Trends pattern, perhaps in the last year or so.

I do know that it wasn't until I was casting off the SECOND clog that I clued in that the cuff was meant to be folded over and bound off with stitches from the start of the cuff (if that makes sense). The first clog was neatly bound off without being folded and I had already stitched up the seams.

After letting the clogs sit in silence (I think they were silent, they may have been crying in shame) for quite some time, I dug them out and with much determination, managed to find and pull out the ends that had been woven in. Then I bound it off correctly.

Almost finished

Yarn: BSLP - Kiwi

I just have a wee bit of seaming and these puppies are good to go in the washer. I've been calling them the Kermit Klogs. My SIL was here for supper last night and her feet were cold, so she had these on in their un-felted state. She looked like Kermit.


Example 3: Imogen

Last night, my Imogen cardigan became the next victim of my wrath.  Imogen was knit from Handmaiden a kit which I'm not sure they carry now.

Even before getting knocked up, I was not happy with the fit of this sweater. I think I bound off too early on the collar, so it was never quite big enough to overlap comfortably in the front. I probably should have made it a little TEENY bit bigger, but I'm not so nuts that I'm pulling out the entire thing!

After our company left last night, I pulled out the bound off edge and grabbed the ball of leftovers from this cardigan. I'm going to knit about 10 more rows before binding off again. 10... 15.. we'll see where the insanity takes me.


Example 4: Gryffindor Scarf

Now, this may not seem like a "finishing" thing to you, but it is to me. A few years ago I bought enough yarn to make Harry Potter scarves for my nephews. After knitting the first one for B, I realized that perhaps E would rather that his aunt not wither in tears on Christmas Day for having planned to knit TWO ENORMOUS scarves and having not completed them. E got a simple hat that year and later on, I made up for it by knitting him the Skully hat.

Taunting me from the back of my stash, however was all this yarn which was not a scarf, but yet was a scarf. It could be nothing else. And while I could have sold it or traded it, I knew, deep down that the pattern would have to be modified a bit to make the yarn last. You see, there was not quite enough to make the scarf exactly as the pattern stated.

It wasn't until my coworker told me that his daughter was a HUGE fan of HP, and asked if I might be able to knit her a scarf, that I thought, Ok, Let's do this. I needed something to knit on the bus anyway.

Ugh


Yarn: BS Nature Spun

It may look like a beginning to you, but to me, it's an ending.

Hallelujah, Amen.

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