Spring Cleaning

I'm pretty sure knitters don't understand how much yarn they have at one time, let alone how many unfinished objects they have (UFOs). Yarn is pretty light and compact so it's easy to think that you don't really have enough and you can afford to buy just one more skein.

Me personally, I haven't bought much yarn in the past year. I have been on a bit of a fiber binge (1 lb of cotton, 1 lb of wool, assorted alpaca), but I've rationalized it by saying that I need it because I don't have as much fiber as I do yarn.

This past weekend I decided to organize my yarn stash.

Because.... Maybe it was a little out of control. But once I started going through my UFOs (unfinished objects for those slow readers out there), I found some things that I remembered the love and remembered the hurt.

Now these two projects above don't look too terrible. But let's microanalyze them. The hat looks quite lovely. It has a beautiful pattern and decent colors... The only problem is that it literally is too big for any normal human head. That entire hat either needs to find a Giant to wear it, or needs to be ripped out so I can reuse the yarn for something that could actually work. Next to it is an almost pair of socks. There is nothing obviously wrong about this project. The yarn is beautiful, the socks fit, the stitch pattern is interesting. The main problem? I ran out of yarn. That means I either have to spend twenty dollars to finish 1/4 of a sock, or rip out most of the first sock to finish the second. There is a third option. I could use some of my assorted leftover sock yarn to construct a not even remotely matching second sock. Which is not really an option.

Then I came across this red and pink mitten. It was a pain to knit. The yarn is much too thick for the needle size I used; which made knitting these like fitting a ham through a pin-needle (a feat I often attempt but never succeed).

Ergo. I have one mitten without a thumb.

Then you come across yarn that has decided to fraternize (yarn sex) with surrounding yarn (slutty yarn). This requires hours of untangling which would lead most mortals to insanity.

Luckily I'm not normal.

I love untangling yarn.


(spoiler alert. I'm a weirdo)

This is a lovely sock that stopped. Maybe I just needed some winding up.

These just need some finishing. And a baby.

This was a test knit that bored me to tears.

Although it's beautiful. and 3/4 of the way finished.

What do I end with? Knowledge that I should NOT buy more yarn until I make at least 30 more things.

Mittens make my heart attack

As I was saying two days ago, I have discovered a treasure trove of UFOs (Unfinished objects).

Before I go on, let me talk about three common knitting terms that I will use and you better get used to.
Frog-This means to rip out your work (usually to correct a mistake). Know why it's called frog? Because you rip-it rip-it.
UFO- Un Finished Object. Something you started and then ...
FO- Finished Object. Self explanatory I hope.

Now that we are all up to date on the knitting lingo, let me continue.

I adore two color mittens. Not just like, but like like. The thought of starting a project and then actually starting a project makes me faint (like old school Victorian dames). I lustily look through patterns and my heart skips a beat when I knit them--which probably makes it seem like I have a constant heart attack while knitting mittens. I think this knitting heart attack is called a love attack?

Yea that was cheesy. I was trying too hard to be funny.


I started this project in October-ish. It was a super fast enjoyable knit (like all mittens) and I was super pleased with how the colors worked together. But then something happened. I vaguely remember being distracted by a pair of socks (but for the life of me I can't remember what they were).

There is something you should know about knitters: we are ruthless. We only have so many knitting needles so sometimes we cannibalize the needles from one project to start another. That is why I made one mitten without a thumb.

My face shows the horror of needle cannibalization

When will I finish these? Time will tell.

But until that illustrious time, I will continue my confession of the UFOs.