I'm like Tiger Woods.

Unfaithful. There. I just said it.

I have a horrible time remaining faithful to one knitting project. Each one I start I fall in love with. But do I remain committed to it? No. I start another. I don't abandon the first. I just spread myself out among each project. I make progress on each, but it takes so long to finish one.

Here are some current examples.


Above is my My Valentine shawl (Ravelry link), knit in Malabrigo sock yarn. I know orange isn't a color usually associated with hearts, but I really like it.


This is not an egg carton for little eggs, but instead is a shawl officially named Emily Shawl. I love it so much! But that's not enough to make me remain faithful.


Read the next post for more examples of my unfaithfulness.

More

Blogger was ashamed of me and wouldn't allow me to put proof of my unfaithfulness into one big post. It made me split up the photos. So here's part two.



This is a linen vest (fourth group of photos from bottom of page). I think it will be a great spring and summer item.


All this lovely shawl needs is the border. And of course some blocking!



I deny that I am ready for rehab. But I promise to try harder! I won't start anything new until I finish at least two of these projects.

Just in time for Easter

See the bunny's cotton tail?
I made a couple of these back-view bunny dishcloths. They are quick, easy, fun, and cute.

Stash-Busting and Gift-Giving

OK, I used only one ball of yarn, but that's one less ball of yarn in my stash.

Last year I made a lacy little purse because I was sucked in by the beautiful display of new Louisa Harding yarns and books in a local yarn store. Though the pattern said I'd need one ball of yarn, I bought another "just in case". That ball had been sitting around, waiting for something to call its name. Turns out it wanted to be a lacy little purse, just like its sister ball of yarn.
It's not an identical twin. Rather than flowers, this one sports a lone lady bug. And rather than being lined in cotton cloth, this one is lined in felt.

It's an Easter gift.

Here's a view of the inside.

I'm quite pleased with it.

What did I learn in the year between these purses?

One, I learned how much I love the Addi lace needles. The first time I made this purse I had a hard time with some of the decrease stitches on the bamboo needles I was using. It was a struggle and stitches were hard to move from one needle to the other. It's all so much easier with the lace needles.

Two, I learned how to read charts. This pattern is not charted and truthfully last year charts scared me. I had no idea what those little symbols meant or how they related to what I was doing. So I just followed the written out directions and was glad there was no chart there to confuse me. I've since come to love charts and wish they'd been available for this project.

Thirdly, I learned how much I like knitting lace. Last year this was the most complicated lace I'd ever done and I wasn't sure I could do it. I did, with a lot of concentration and counting. Now it all comes much easier.

Now to come up with projects for more of that stash...

Easter Swap

I told myself, "Self, no swapping this year!" But my friend Ariel started some swaps on Ravelry. She's such a good swap organizer that resistance was futile.

Here are the goodies I received in the latest swap from Lin (Linleigh on Ravelry). In the back row are two notions pouches preloaded with notions. These bags are great! Each is the inverse of the other; that is, the fabric on the outside of one is the fabric on the inside of the other. The middle row is the yarn she sent. Those are two gorgeous green shades of wool from Knitpicks in a fingering weight. The beautiful rust-colored yarn is soft Ultra Alpaca Fine from Berroco. In the front row there's a brown bunny (more info below), an Easter card, a cross-stitched bookmark with my name, a Vogue Knitting stitch-a-day calendar.

Look at what the goodies are posed on. That's tissue paper hand-stamped with little bunnies. That was on top when I opened the box.

I was amazed at the creative, hand-made creations Lin sent to me. There's the notions pouches, the bookmark, and the bunny. And some beautiful hand-stamped creations.

Just look at the bunny! Lin included the pattern (which isn't pictured). He's made of a 6" square of knitting which is then gathered and sewn to make his head and legs. It's the cleverest thing I've ever seen! Here's the front view.

And the back.
And what's this? Didn't make it into the group picture, it seems. It's a perturbed looking frog, saying, "OK, I wore the ears, now where's my Peeps?"
And in the box there's bunches and bunches of Reese's eggs and two chocolate-covered Peeps!
This is such a fabulous Easter package from Lin! Thank you very much!