I woke up this morning knowing there would be something new to cast-on, I could feel it.

I’ve spun quite a bit of fibre into yarn, but thus far I’ve knit very little of my hand spun. My 200 grams of GaGa Bunny had already being wound into a ball months ago, it was an obvious choice. I’ve been eyeing off the pattern ‘Zuzu’s Petals’ for a while now. It is a rather clever pattern and looks great by all accounts of the people who have made it on Ravelry. It’s a cowl/shawl! I love pretty shawls, but I get a bit fussy about how to wrap the things to make them stay on; this is a great solution because it is a cowl that looks like a shawl wrapped around your neck.

I love holidays!

I’m going to try something new, starting now.

I’m going to knit what I want, when I want. Goodbye project monogamy! I thought you could make me happy, but you are seriously disappointing my knitting dreams.

It is a bit of an obstacle of the mind, to not be working on just one project at a time. But some recent large projects have made me realise, I need to branch out a little. I want to knit everything now. If I wait too long to knit what I want to knit now, inevitably I am not all that excited about what I’m knitting at any time, because I’ve thought about it for too long! Does that make sense? What is the point of it all, if knitting doesn’t make me happy?!

Here’s the beginnings of project 2, a pair of stripy socks. The yarn is my very first shipment of Vesper sock club. I wasn’t too crazy about this colour way, but decided that knitting the cuff, heel and toes in some leftover wollmeise mint would make this pair of socks look super snappy. I’ve loved every colour way since, so I’m sure I’ll grow to love these too.

What will I cast on next?!

I don’t know what has come over me. Maybe it’s the end of the year, or maybe I just got a bit worried after watching an episode of ‘Hoarders’. I’ve been sorting through all the sorts of collections I have at home. It’s amazing how easy it was to rid myself of things I haven’t used in years. There is of course more to go, I haven’t stopped yet. I eagerly await the arrival of a skip, so I can really have at it!

I’ve also been ‘culling’ my Ravelry queue… 25 pages down to 22! Ok, so maybe that needs a bit more work. Whilst it’s not taking up physical space in my life, my knitting dreams can be a bit of a burden. I tried to be honest with myself; no I’m really not going to knit those lacy Opera gloves… but 200 pairs of socks? Sure no problem!

Right now, I’m working feverishly on my ‘Plain and Simple’ top. I’ve resisted the temptation of casting-on some socks so far, but I don’t know for how much longer I can hold out. The ‘Still-light’ a-long begins on January 1… so much knitting, so little time.

On a happier note, I’m all set for Christmas and I’ve avoided much of the ugly crowds. All that is left now is to soak up the season. I hope yours is a happy one.

I dare not look on Ravelry to confirm that my over the knee high stripy socks have taken me two months to knit. That’s a lot of knitting time, that’s a lot of time knitting the same thing. Have I proven my discipline or my insanity? Maybe both, and a whole lot of perseverance, read: stubbornness.

I went as far as winding up my wollmeise skeins to make ‘plain and simple’ by Veera, a 4ply short sleeved top this afternoon. And then I paused. I need to knit something fast, I need to win at knitting, because those socks nearly got the better of me.

I dived into my ‘Marilyn’ bag of wool. I’ve set aside some small lots of yarn in pretty colours. I found some sentimental yarn. Apart from it being in my all time favourite colours, it is yarn that I purchased at my LYS when I lived in San Francisco. The moment in time that feels like a dream to me now. I can’t think of a more deserving recipient. I hope I can do the yarn justice.

I know I’m not alone in my love of stripes. Stripes when translated in yarn = fun!  Stripes and socks = the bees knees; that is probably why I have so many skeins of stripy sock yarn, the epiphany of mindless knitting.

Here’s a few balls from my stash.

After I’d taken the photo, I could see another 5 balls just staring at me.

I joined the Vesper Sock Club recently. This is a hand painted stripy sock club. It’s been quite a bit of fun to receive ‘surprise’ stripy sock yarn in the mail and the Hershey Kisses are a nice little bonus.

During the Morris & Sons sale last year I picked up a bag of 5 Patonyle striped balls. I thought a-ha, I can make super long socks with this! Well it has taken quite some time to knit two very long socks, it’s almost a 4ply sweater’s worth of knitting! I’m almost there, just. I felt the knitting mojo die right before the first sock was even finished. But, I kept going and now all of a sudden I’m about to commence the rib cuff section on my second sock!

The ribbed section at the top, is going to scrunch up around my knee, I don’t have super skinny thighs! I haven’t decided what to do with the remaining 3 balls. I could destash… but I actually really like this colourway and I love Patonyle, so it may just marinade in the stash for a while.

When I see Marilyn at the moment, my sister has been dressing her in either the pink hoody or the yoda sweater I made for her. Normally I think Marilyn looks quite cosy in those pieces of attire, to the point where I think she’s actually enjoying being dressed in wool! I don’t think I’m imagining it, nor do I think I’m imagining the fact that she knows I’ve made these things for her…

Last week I mailed her an ‘umbilical cord hat’, my ‘go-to’ hat for babies (they just look so cute in them). I wasn’t sure that the hat fit by the phone photo that was taken and sent through to me. Yesterday I saw first hand that the hat in fact does actually fit… but then… poor Marilyn really wanted that hat OFF. Obviously not being able to express this, she shook her head quite vigorously, (my sisters weren’t really aware what was going on). I came to her rescue and pulled the hat off and all of a sudden she stopped shaking her head and looked quite relieved. It was very funny.