Naming and shaming

Today's Messy Tuesday post is dedicated to Felix, the originator of all this blog sponsored untidiness.

I know I posted a photo of my stash corner a couple of weeks ago for messy Tuesday but I feel that the situation down there has escalated to such an extent that it merits a further post. The thing has developed its own topography. In this view you can just see past Unmatched Needle Mountain into Tangled Yarn valley and the treacherous shores and murky deeps of Lake UFO.







Talking of which I thought that if I fished a few objects out of said lake it might prompt me (moved by a sense of righteous shame) to do something about them.*

Pattern: Print of the Wavw
Yarn: Lorna's Laces Helen's Lace
Date cast on: March 2007
Date last worked on: August 2007
Target finish date: August 2008
Sense of shame: monumental



I thought I'd start with the worst transgressor in an attempt to end on an upbeat note. The main body of the stole is complete but I've only knit about 50 (I think) rows of edging out of an estimated 1000+ (my fault for knitting it longer than spec.). Initially I just got overfaced by the thought of picking this up and then I kind of just forgot about it. I've set a target finish date of August 2008. It's not completely insane and it would be lovely to wear this in a sunny September with jeans and a white shirt.

Pattern: Anya
Yarn: Kid Classic, Kid Silk Haze, Kid Silk Night
Date cast on: Christmas 2006
Date last worked on: January 2008
Target finish date: Christmas 2008 (can you see a pattern emerging here?)
Sense of shame: burning



The Anya sweater was meant to be ready to wear last Christmas but progress was interrupted by work on the Peacock shawl and last minute Christmas knitting. I'm not as concerned about this as I am about POTW as I know that whenever I do pick it up it fairly flies along. Christmas 2008 is an achievable target and I'd love to have it ready by the time the cold weather kicks in (which in Britain is ususually in the middle of August, hee).

Pattern: Sheep Yoke Baby Cardigan #2
Yarn: Rowan Pure Wool DK
Date cast on: April 2008
Date last worked on: April 2008
Target finish date: May 2008
Sense of shame: very mild



This only needs the sheep's faces stitching on before I block it and sew on the buttons. There's no particular hurry on this one as the intended wearer is still a work in progress.

Pattern: Thelonious by Cookie A.
Yarn: Louet Gems Opal
Date cast on: March 2008
Date last worked on: April 2008
Target date: June 2008
Sense of shame: deep



I'm afraid I committed the ultimate sin as far as this sock is concerned in that I removed the poor things needles to use for another project. Sock #1 is 75% done and I really like the pattern, it's just that I wanted to cast on these:

Pattern; Merry Jane shoes
Yarn: Rowan Cashsoft DK/4 ply & Rowan Pure Wool DK/Jaeger Matchmake 4 ply
Date cast on: April 2008
Date last worked on: April 2008
Target finish date: May 2008
Sense of shame: blush





These haven't been in the neglected pile for too long so the shame is mainly coming from the fact that until I pulled them out of the bag earlier I had honestly forgotten about them. This is what happens when I don't Ravel stuff.

Pattern: Tatami and Minimalist cardigan
Yarn: Oxford Kitchen Yarns DK in latte/biscuit
Dates cast on: February 2008/April 2008
Dates last worked on: March 2008/April 2008
Target finish date: erm../July 2008
Sense of shame: justly felt





The observant amongst you might notice that these are knit from the same yarn. That's right, a bad case of pattern envy led to me and the yarn fooling around with the Minimalist cardigan behind the Tatami's back. What started out as a brief flirtation has developed into a full blown fling. I suspect that it's going to be curtains for the Tatami although not immediately. It is a truth universally acknowledged that a cheater always cheats. Despite only casting on the Minimalist cardigan on Thursday, by Saturday evening I had two fresh projects on the needles.

Yarn: Artesano Alpaca 4 ply (pattern tbc)
Date cast on: last Saturday
Date last worked on: last Sunday
Target finish date: July 2008
Sense of shame: none (it's for someone else)



I was on the look out for some soft red yarn for a scarf for my mum and this leapt out at me whilst at iknit on Saturday. This is still at the swatching stage. I've started off with the Little pyramids pattern but I need to block it and maybe try out a few others to see what will best suit the yarn.

Pattern: Hopscotch socks
Yarn: Regia 4 ply
Date cast on: last Saturday
Date last worked on: today
Target finish date: April 2008 (strictly speaking I only need to knit one as it's a test knit)
Sense of shame: mild



Although it is knit with brand new yarn bought at Liberty on Saturday (naughty) and knit on new needles as I couldn't wait to get home before casting on (v. bad) this project is somewhat redeemed by being the long postponed final test knit for my first real sock pattern. I finally sat down at the computer on Monday and typed out a good copy incorporating all Katie's comments and corrections and I'm carefully knitting through it now. One good thing about putting this off for so long is that I no longer know the pattern by heart so it should be a much better test knit than if I'd got around to it sooner. Thank goodness that there are some benefits to procrastination.

* Please note that I am but skimming the surface here. I don't actually have time to go through everything that's lying about in a neglected state in my "to do" pile.