My Life in Stitches: One Project or Two? Maybe Four?

The knitting part of my blog has been a little slow, but I can't say the same for my knitting life. I have four, count them, four, WIPs going right now. I have only four because I just finished a pair of fingerless gloves from my daughter's birthday. Marinating on my needles right now are a baby blanket, a sweater, a caplet and my Color Affection/Affliction. For those of you who follow this blog know that I am so anti-multiple projects. I may have two, normally a more challenging one for home and one easy social/Bible study project, but four is a bit excessive for me. And the why I feel right now has convinced me that I never need to work on four projects at a time again.

So here are my top four reasons (one for each WIP) why I shouldn't work on more than one project at a time:

1. I feel like I have knitting ADHD. I have enough decisions to make in life than to be worried about which project I'm going to work on at what time. Too much to think about.
2. Akin to #1, I don't need five patterns in my head. Yes, I have them on my computer, but sometimes I'm not near my computer (not often, but sometimes). I feel like I have bits and pieces of each pattern floating around in my head.
3. I don't know where the ham I am on any of these projects. I need a scorecard to keep track of what row or repeat I'm on. I waste precious knitting time trying to figure out where I left off or trying to end at a memorable point. 
4. All of these are taking the slow boat to China route of completion. Because my knitting time is divided over five projects, I can only make a little process at a time. For a person who likes to have FO (finished objects) and not WIPs, that's frustrating.

Those are my reasons and I'm sticking to them. My only hope now is that the caplet should be done soon. Like within 24 hours. Of course, I have another sweater I've be dying to cast on waiting in the wings. 

My Life in Stitches: Birth-Month Knitting

Yesterday, I shared my birth-month celebration plans (my birthday is actually on the 29th). But there is one more important thing I must add: knitting. I’ve already planned to go yarn shopping, but I also have planned out what I’m going to knit this month.

I normally am a very organized knitter. I pick patterns before I buy yarn (most of the time), and I try to knit my yarn in the order in which I bought it (First in, first out. Thank you five years of working at Burger King). Last month, I assigned most of my stash to projects and saved them in my Raverly queue. My next project is supposed to be the Emerald Isle sweater, but for my birth-month, I’m ditching my queue…by creating another queue.

Pei by Michelle Wang

Now the point of birth-month knitting is not to actually finish the projects. I probably will, but that’s not my goal. My goal is to work on patterns that I like with yarn that I like. Pure enjoyment knitting.

First in my queue is Pei by Michelle Wang. I will be making my Pei out of my very special Elizabeth Bennett yarn from Yarn Love (Earl Grey colorway). Seventy percent merino and thirty percent silk, it’s lovely on the needles (I casted on today). I don’t think I’ll have any problem finishing this one. I would like to wear it on my birthday, but that depends if the weather cooperates.

Spectra by Steven West

Second in my birth-month queue is Spectra by Steven West. I’ll make it with Spud & Chloe and Noro Silk Garden. I’ve had my eye on Spectra for a long time and was certain I purchased it but I didn't. No matter. That’s an easy fix.

Color Affection byVeera Välimäki

And if, by some freak of nature, I get both of these done before the end of the month, I’ll cast on my Color Affection made from Kollage Yarns Sock-a-licious and Giant Farm yarns I got from Nature’s Yarn in Fairfax, VA.

The best part about this queue is I reserve the right to change it if something else catches my eye. Aren’t birth-month celebrations great?