Friday, October 05, 2007

Wherefore art thou mojo?

For the last two weeks my knitting has felt unsettled. I pick up a project, knit a few rows, put it down, start a new project, buy some yarn, pick up a second project and repeat.

It is frustrating. The Tilted Duster is five, yes FIVE, rows from being finished. Sew up two seams, slap on some buttons and voila a FO. Still, I can't bring myself to do it. Every morning as I choose my commute knitting for the day I look at it, sigh and pick up something else.

I feel overwhelmed at the number of UFOs in the metaphorical knitting basket. Some days I'm not knitting at all.

In the past week I've done a dozen rows on MS3, started a sock from Cat Bordhi's new book, picked at my first Autumn Rose sleeve, completed two rows on a scarf that I abandoned shortly after casting on last winter, knit a few rows on the second Snowflake Sock and spun an ounce or two of fleece. Looking at it now the list seems long but there is no noticeable progress on any of my projects.

To try and shake the blahs, I've decided that it is time to prioritize and set some goals for October as a way to prove to myself that I'm making some headway on the ol' WIP list. As an added incentive I've decided to join the UFOctober KAL.

So which "monkeys" will I be getting off my back?

1) Mystery Stole 3 - Swan Lake
- After realizing that my gauge was going to yield more of an oversized scarf than an actual stole, I decided to knit the long version. This has set me back roughly one hundred rows. I hope to survive Clue 4 and get this project off the needles.

2) Snowflake Socks
- I've started the second one out of habit but it needs to get done. This month is the one.

3) Tilted Duster
- So little left, I should be able to get this done in the next twenty-some days.

4) Autumn Rose
- This is a long-term project. If I knit nothing else all month, I might be able to finish it. Given the length of this list it is probably more realistic to commit to finishing both sleeves by the end of the month.

5) Spiraling Coriolis Socks
- The first one is past the heel turn, the second is conceptual at this point. I should be able to finish these off in honour of Socktober.

And there you have it, a shove out of a rut. Wish me luck.

(Happy Thanksgiving to my Canadian friends. Hopefully 9 hours on a train will provide me with some updated photos for you next week.)

2 comments:

Nicole said...

Best of luck! I've found that - while I was on a finishing kick for a while - I've now let my WIP pile start to build back up again. And I now own more sock needles than I used to, so in theory I could cast on at least 2 more projects... Eeep! No! Must. Focus.

I want my MS3 done, too, but I keep getting distracted...

Anonymous said...

Thanks for joining us! I have added you to the link list and will post about you soon. Have fun & knit on!