An Aside

I thought of this, and it's usually the type of thing I blog about. So I decided to share it with my very small world of readers. I need to put myself on a knitting diet. The kind that I will actually tell Chris about so that he can keep me accountable.

Here's the thing: sometimes, I get the itch. You might recognize the symptoms from some of your own hobbies or interests. Suddenly, I have the undeniable urge to own new yarn, to feel the different fibers and to revel in all of the beautiful colorways. I have been surfing my favorite yarn sites and poking around Ravelry for ideas. I also have a backup cache of patterns that are just WAITING for their yarn. Next year's Christmas presents are already in the works, since I need more time than I thought. Now, before you try to excuse my problem, you should know the whole truth:

1. I am not a prolific knitter. I don't turn out a pair of socks in a week. I can do simple mittens in a month, maybe even 2 weeks. But I'm not particularly fast. The only sweater I've completed took a year, and the second sweater is still on the needles a year later (it lacks arms).
2. I have a lot of projects in progress:
1. Amy's christmas gloves are still not done. They still lack fingers.
2. The aforementioned sweater needs arms. Luckily, I'm not the hulk or an octopus.
3. My mittens. I've got about 40% of a pair of striped fingerless gloves for myself done. They're my on-a-whim project.

 I think the saddest bit is that I actually have yarn. I have five skeins of the most beautiful emerald green yarn ever. It's actually a variegated green that was hand-died by widows in Uruguay or something like that. It is soft, huggable, and simply waiting for me to have time to make something (it's between a sweater for myself or a gift for a friend who would love the yarn). There's tons of other yarn that needs to be made into little things, basically, scraps from other projects that only have enough yarn to make mittens. In fact, I just got a brilliant idea. If I decide to do it, I'll let you know.

The point is, I need to exercise practicality and restraint. I am making a promise to myself, with a deadline. I will finish Amy's gloves first, then the purple sweater, and will do so by the end of the summer. That's plenty of time to knit at a leisurely pace. Then, I will do something with the green yarn and the other bits of scraps.

I've said it. Now, to hold myself to it.