Some progress and some temptation

I have the husband's sweater done to the armholes. I still have to knit the sleeves and then join everything together. I've done all I can on the hat to be sent to Iraq - DD ran out of yarn on hers and had to use part of my ball to finish, then I knit as much as I could on mine. Will have to go get another on Wednesday. My brother and SIL gave me a gift certificate for the LYS, so I'm debating whether to get yarn or books and other things.

I've started the first baby sweater - from stash yarn! My oldest stash yarn, to be exact. When I first picked knitting up again about 5 years ago, it was because of Barbara Walker's Learn to Knit Afghan book. I completed about half of the squares and lost interest, but I still have some unused yarn. I want to put together the squares I did make, but don't plan to make any more. That leaves me with a bunch of Aurora 8 in 6 different colors to use. Not enough of any one color for a sweater, but I think I can use it up on hats, scarves, mitts, and that new Calorimetry pattern on knitty. I just made one in Classic Elite's Waterlily, which feels a lot like Aurora 8. The two colors I'm using for the babies are Pistachio and Blue Topaz - pale yellow green and pale blue. The Iraq hat is in Aurora 8 also - I'd forgotten what a pleasure it is to knit with. I think that's part of the reason I fell in love with knitting this time around. If I'd picked up some cheap, scratchy yarn for that afghan, I wouldn't have enjoyed it nearly as much.

The WIPs and UFOs

Currently working on or planning to pick up asap:

• Sweater for the Husband
• Felted bag
• FLAK sweater
• Partial redo of Orange Tweed sweater

Must knits:

• Cap to be sent to LYS owner's son's unit in Iraq - asap
• 2 baby sweaters - asap
• Friend's scarf - asap
• Felted lunch bag for daughter
• Felted box for Dad's birthday - March 2
• Something for Mom - March 4

UFOs that can wait:

• Bird's Nest Shawl
• Diamond Fantasy Shawl
• Charlotte's Web III (needs border)
• Einstein Coat
• Learn-to-Knit Afghan
• Celtic Cable Sweater
• Mohair Wrap

Plan of attack:

1. Cap to be sent to Iraq (should be quick)
2. Finish Husband's sweater (It was supposed to be a Christmas present after all)
3. Baby sweaters (she's due soon!)
4. Friend's scarf (it would be nice if she could wear it this Winter...)

This will have to be reevaluated as the parent birthdays approach. I may try to work the lunch bag in as my mindless project. Once these are done, I will prioritize the rest.

Last Gasp

Had to make a quick trip to the LYS to get one more skein of Lamb's Pride Bulky to finish the felted boxes for my brother and his wife. Naturally my daughter and I had to check out the sale items. She talked me into buying some discontinued Classic Elite Wings - 11 skeins in Woodland Green. ("It's not January yet!") Hopefully it will be enough for a shortened Viking Turid. Several items also got added to the to-be-knit-soon list: the shop owner gave both of us a skein of Aurora 8 to knit hats for her son's unit in Iraq, and we ran into my daughter's babysitter from years ago - she's expecting twins very soon! I think I can manage a couple of baby sweaters from the stash.

So, I have this last felted box, my husband's sweater, a hat, 2 baby sweaters, and a scarf for a friend (she bought the yarn) in my must-do pile. Then I can attack the UFOs and the stash. I'll work on a UFO list for next time. No way I'm listing the stash. It would be too demoralizing - I want to pretend I am going to make a sizable dent in it this year. I reserve the right to unload some stuff on eBay if I decide I'm never going to get around to knitting it.

A New Year's Resolution?

Do I dare? Can I be trusted? I want to resolve to knit solely from the stash for 2007. I have too much yarn. Lovely yarn that I bought because I wanted to knit it. Not quite S.A.B.L.E., but getting there. Once the UFOs are down to a reasonable amount and I'm casting about for a new project, with nothing I specific that I want to knit, I thought I might write down the stash yarns on scraps of paper, put them in a hat, and knit up whatever I pull out. (I may decide to leave the bulky and aran weight yarns out of the Spring and Summer drawings, and the lace weights out of the Fall and Winter ones.) If I can do it, I could reward myself with enough Silk Garden to do that Garterlac throw I've been coveting. Sounds like a plan, but I still don't know if I can be trusted. There is that trip to Orchardside coming up in March. I may have to plan an exception for that. I really hate to make resolutions and not keep them. If I post it on the internet, maybe I will be shamed into submission.