Quitting is Easy and Fun!

Today's title is courtesy of Aaron, who seems to be a bit sarcastic toward my new frogging streak. One would think he would be happy to see some of the piles of unfinished projects go away. But somehow he's figured out that frogging isn't reducing the actual quantity of yarn in the house. This, I would argue, is a mere detail. Frogging is fun. Liberating, even. And yarn may take up less space than projects, if I ever find a place to keep all of it.

Today I said goodbye to my "Mutant Sweater," an ill-fated project from the very beginning. I fell in love with the yarn first - the "Mountain Creek" colorway from Lorna's Laces. It seemed like a great candidate for the Cathode sweater, but I didn't have quite enough of the Mountain Colors. (I don't remember if I was being cheap, or if there were only two skeins available.) So at the time, crossing Cathode with the Poiret Sweater from Sculptured Knits seemed like a perfectly reasonable thing to do.

First it turned out that the lovely Dale Falk yarn I'd bought was too thick to go with the Shepherd Sport, so I had to step down to Baby Ull. And it didn't come in the lovely purple I'd selected, so I had to stettle for navy. Then I couldn't get gauge, or didn't. I was even less into swatching then than I am now. I kept shrinking the sweater, only to find once I'd completed some actual knitting that it was smaller than it originally seemed. But at that point I decided that I'd rather alter myself to fit the sweater than mess around with pattern repeats anymore.


This back piece was slow to knit, because of the two patterns that had to be counted separately. And then I lost the piece of yarn I'd crocheted for casting on the front, so I couldn't continue right away. Somehow that was discouraging enough that the poor sweater has sat, untouched, for well over a year. And I had time to get used to the design, and decide I'm not happy with it. The Baby Ull will go into the general stash, and I'll find something special to do with the Lorna's Laces. Maybe, if I ever see more Mountain Creek, I'll just knit Cathode without screwing around.


I may also be quitting the Red Scarf, at least for this year. Even though I'm over halfway finished, thanks to the Talladega trip, I'm not sure there's any way I can be completely done by October 15. So I may have to save it for next year, but I'll see how the next couple of days go before I make a final decision.

I have a new good reason for wanting to get the no-fun projects off the needles; my copy of Andean Folk Knits arrived over the weekend. I don't have many knitting books, and try to be very selective, but I judged this one by its cover and added it to my amazon.com wish list because I liked the pouch. I'm so glad that I finally gave in and bought it. Unlike so many "folk knitting" books, this author actually spent time on the ground with the knitters, rather than just working from a random collection. While some of her designs are "tribute" pieces (and are clearly labeled as such), most appear to be careful reproductions of traditional designs and techniques, rather than merely being vaugely "insipired by" something from somewhere exotic. And I just like the look of the pieces (it helps that dog motifs - as guardians for your stuff - figure prominently into several designs). So I'll be good while I have so many things to finish, but I can't wait to start casting on!