Crisis of confidence revisited

So this is the project that got me thinking of all of my UFOS and why they continue to be UFOs. It is the Celtic Vest kit by Fleece Artist. I picked the kit up at BeeHive in Victoria British Columbia. I just couldn't make this work. I got 3/4 of the way done with it and realized that even with some heavy blocking, it just wasn't going to work. Also, the neck shaping looked funky and I just didn't have the endurance to redesign the whole thing. So, to the 'repurposing pile'.

As I thought of my other UFO's it is apparent that most of them have some aspect with which I am not happy. I will have to think long and hard about each one before expending more effort.

Finally, the Grant Ave vest is done, all but the buttons. I am a little unhappy with the way it gaps out away from my waist because it has no shaping along the shoulders. It is a generous size and I might wear it belted which will solve the problem.
To get geared up to really work some fairisle, I started these mitts. I am very happy with the way they are going even though I am only on the first one. Once the fairisle bug bites me, I am usually good for a fair amount of it. We'll see if it gets me through these mitts.
Lastly, this is what I got for my birthday this year. It is my fifth (and final) stripe on my red belt, which qualifies me to test for my advanced red belt! I am very excited and have been working hard to get here. I need to continue the push to try and qualify for my brown belt by May, otherwise I have to wait until September. Elizabeth will also be graduating, to advanced blue so I will put up pics from our graduation on Friday.

Ambitions

I guess I have to come to grips with the fact that I will never be a daily, or even weekly blogger. I still am enough of a techno-dork that I am intimidated by the technology and have not gotten very far in understanding all that this medium is capable of.
I have been a little limited by what I can knit as I am trying to let my elbow heal from a bad case of tennis elbow. I think it started in December when I spent two days winding warps for towels. I also started karate in December and that didn't help. Add in feverish knitting to try and keep up with the Spring Shawl Surprise, and I was doomed. So, for the last three days, I have knit almost nothing. This has given me some time to get going on weaving those towels, and I have been able to do some spinning.
This is what I got for my 43rd birthday! My first real belt in karate. I am inordinately gleeful about this. Not only are the classes fun, they are a good workout. Since you are always striving to perfect new techniques, it doesn't get dull. And it is satisfying to know that I am learning skills that may be useful at some point in my life. I hope to acheive green belt status by the first of April.



Elizabeth has transitioned to the juniors Karate program and is really enjoying it as well. She was a little bored with the Preschool class.
I am well into the first of the STR Sock-of-the-month. The yarn is not a colorway that I would ordinarily pick, but I am actually enjoying knitting with it. This is the project that I have been carrying around with me, knitting a few rows per day so that I don't work my elbow too much.
The colors look a little dark here but you can get a sense of the amazing dye job that resulted in the stripe pattern where the light pink is framed by the darker orange-red. This sock is finished and I am working on the ribbing of the second sock.
I finished the little hat below as a baby gift for a friend, and am using the rest of the skein of Peace Fleece sock yarn for a pair of socks for Elizabeth, one down, one to go.











These mitts were a quick knit out of Mountain Colors Mountain Goat. I have been unable to get a good picture but there is a central cable up the back of the hand. I have worn this a ton already, although with temps in the (-) range lately, it is too cold to wear them. This pattern was modified from a pattern in one of the One Skein Wonders books--a mitten pattern that I turned into mitts. Despite both mitts having the same measurements, the end of the mitt falls at a different place on each hand and this bugs me tremendously. The next time I make mitts for myself, I will take this into account.

This is the beginning of my SSS, abandoned for now because of my tendonitis. I am actually much farther into it, working on clue 3 (or 4, I cant recall). I am downloading the clues as they become available and will probably slowly finish this over the next six months.

So: My To-Do List for Feb/March is the following (allowing for minimal knitting per day)

1. Finish STR January socks
2. Finish handspun sweater (front and back done, 1/2 way through the sleeves) including blocking and assembly.
3. Finish the six towels currently in progress on my Mightly Wolf.
4. Finish the Grant Ave vest
5. Finish the socks for Elizabeth from the Peace Fleece.
6. Work on my current spinning project--Merino/Tencel
7. Work on my 3-ply alpaca yarn, using up the Alpaca I used for my LX

Could be a might bite ambitious, aye!