Fearless and Searching WIP Inventory

In the interest of lighter content, here's some fiber reportage.

First, some confession. As I clean up the post-vacation, post-temporary job house wreckage, I am finding all my knitting works in progress. I'm not saying I'm finding and finishing them, but I'm finding them. Finishing them will be another step in maturity we can all look forward to. I usually excuse myself from these transgressions by saying I'm a process rather than product knitter, but this is ridiculous.



There's the bamboo yarn preemie wrap sweater for Isaac, knit on size 0 needles, which has reemerged from laundry time travel. It was sized for a child born weighing three pounds. He's now three times that size, and looks great in a silk dress. This will make a good souvenir, or coaster.



There's the adorable white merino baby sweater for Matthew, which only needs its buttons, ends woven in, and blocking. At this point, I will need to put it on a stuffed animal when I give it to Matthew. Matthew is not a baby anymore.



Then there's the similarly adorable teal merino baby sweater for Andrew. Andrew is a big boy now. All it needs is one button, and ends woven in. There's a little disatisfaction with the underarms on that one, which is why I sort of lost steam when I finished knitting it.



Then there's the heavily cabled Noro cashmere blend baby cardigan I was making for William, Andrew's older brother, who is now five. That one's still on needles. I came into that one backwards, thinking I only had enough yarn for a baby sweater. Then I decided only a fool would give a cashmere baby sweater. Either way, I still owe William big-time.



There's the big Mountain Color Bearfoot sweater I started for John. John was big. That takes a long time. Now, John is losing weight and is not so big. I need to rethink this. In the meantime, John has not received a handmade sweater from me since 1983, before we were married. He thought it was storebought, said "Thanks", and put it aside to open the next gift. I've hidden behind that incident long enough, since John basically funds my yarn habit. There better be a sweater for John in the near future. Maybe handspun on the spinning wheel he just bought me. I love this man -- I just can't finish a damn sweater.

Oh, there's Rogue, which was to be for Claire, whom I missed terribly when she moved away. In the effort to modify it into a zip hoodie, I overengineered it, and ended up ripping out weeks of work in frustration. I also had huge doubt that this wonderful teenage girl would condescend to wear a handmade sweater, with or without Celtic cables. I wanted her to be cool and popular in her new school -- would wearing something homemade hold her back socially?

Which is also what I did to Jonathan's preppy cabled v-neck pullover, which I restarted twice. I was working out a huge amount of grief on that one. It's hard to figure out what size to make a pullover for your baby boy when he lives across the country and you no longer get to watch him grow. I gave up. Hopefully I will be able to come back to another project for Jonathan and actually give it to him.

Way back in the annals of time, there's a front panel for a patterned blue merino sweater for Jonathan's daddy. It's still around. I don't know where the rest of the yarn is. It's complicated to knit for a guy you love like a brother, but who is another friend's husband. Feels too intimate. I would walk through fire for this guy, but I can't make him a sweater. (Nonetheless, it was an impressive start.)

There's a single merino sock in Koigu. I have the yarn for the other. I can't even remember who this was intended for.



There's the very ornately cabled acrylic burgundy torso, waiting for sleeves and a collar. I think that's about five years old. I'm not sure. I don't like the feel of the yarn on my hands, but I obviously spent a lot of time with it, because it's VERY cabled. This was obviously before I became a yarn snob.

I ripped out the Aran cabled torso I did during coverage of 9/11. It fulfilled its purpose, and there was so much tension and horror knit into that one I could never have given it to anyone. Besides, there was a cable that crossed the wrong way way down on one column, and I got kind of paralyzed about that flaw. I know there were ways to fix it, but I didn't want to. Besides, it was just Wool-Ease.



The current "active" project is a sweater from thick Karabella Aurora bulky yarn I've had for a couple of years. It's fat yarn, and knits up quick, and I'd been at a loss for what to make with it. I came across a pattern for a close-fitting jacket with a cabled border that should do it justice, and hopefully I have just enough yarn.



Also still alive is a ChicKnits Ribby Shell in tencel/cotton. This yarn feels wonderful, but it's shedding. This is definitely a hand candy project. I think anytime I wear this with black pants, it will look like a teal lint bomb went off. I'm not talking myself out of it. I'm not, I'm not.

The turquoise Canby cabled socks, knit simultaneously on a circular, have been dormant a while. I'm not loving the way they look...

In addition to all the works "on needles", I have the world's largest collection of fine fibery closet insulation. Maybe not. I figure, I could actually buy clothing to put in my closet, but that would cost more. Anyone who sees me knows that apparel is not my vice. Yarn is. Color, texture, potential, creativity, love for other people, intention, engineering, fellowship with other fiber folks -- there's so much there. I love this stuff.

And there's also weaving and spinning content yet to come.

I'm sure this all reveals my character flaws to the world. Oh, well. Shed a little light on them and I'm more likely to improve. Maybe I'm showing off and only pretending to confess.