Wednesday, October 14, 2009

What I got for ya...

...is a whole lotta nuthin'. Man. DANG. Most of last month I was visiting friends on the weekends - even spent a week out in Denver, CO. Aaaand not a lot of knittin' happened, which has been the case for a while now. Aaaaand now I'm having some serious trouble kick-starting my knits. But hey - its Fall: my favorite seasonal kick in the arse! Time to make a Marked For Knittin' (M.F.K.) list and get ta crackin'!

Need to assess a few things:
First, some of the M.F.K.s need to happen more badly than the others, for one of two reasons: 1. fresh babies are getting squeezed into the world continuously or 2. I saddled myself with a favor (aka. boring side project) agreed to months'n'months ago, but procrastinated (aka. tried to spare myself for as long as possible).

Second, every project I have lined up lacks two very essential things - creativity and planning; I may have creative ideas, but I don't plan them well - or even worse, I have a plan, but its not creative. Right now, I've got a sock cuff which doesn't fit, the start of a sleeve which definitely doesn't fit, and am wonderin' if the body of the pullover will have a wonky shape... Fail to plan, plan to fail.

Third, the whole 'fail to plan' thing is screwing up more than just my knitting. Ouch.

So here's the M.F.K. list:
  1. Baby blanket for a kid arriving first week of January (fun times)
  2. Hat for a friend (the new kid's father - also fun times)
  3. 4 pairs of minuture mittens (gag!) as a favor (they are gonna owe me Big Time for this one...)

    and at this point, I'm realizing the stuff I had hoped to finish by now is getting relegated to the bottom of the list... (depression).
  4. EZ seamless Hybrid pullover (done with the body, but not sure of fit/shaping)
  5. a classic Rowan pullover or cardigan (got the yarn/not even gauged yet)
  6. tri-color vest (got the yarn/no plan)
  7. green socks (do-over!)
  8. thick winter socks (easy)
I am getting a notebook and planning each one of these projects from start to finish - no more muckin' up half-baked ideas or instructions. Every project has inertia; I'm tired of hitting points where I have to put 'em down and figure it out - it breaks my stride (apparently for weeeeeks at a time lol). Need to hit my knits running again - startin' with momentum I can build on.

Jotting down a few rules while I'm at it wouldn't hurt, either; worked in Zombieland!

Rule #1: Cardigans.
Rule #2: Guage Matters.
Rule #3: Fail to plan, plan to fail.
Rule #4: If it doesn't fit, you must unknit.
Rule #5: Do the sleeves first.

Okay, time to start knockin' out the M.F.K.in' list.

2 comments:

The Mayor of the Knit Nook said...

Just DO IT. Okay? I have seen your knitting and at least I (even if YOU don't) KNOW you can do it.
Buckle down and get clicking!

A: Something small
B: Something BIG
C: Something difficult
D: Something easy

Not necessary four things, could be just two if you mix them right.

Now KNIT.

Holly said...

Rule #6 Sometimes it's not you, it's the yarn.