It's Frog-day, Frog-day, gotta get down on Frog-day...

First, apologies to everyone for getting the horrific Rebecca Black song stuck in your head, but it's been in mine for a day and a half, so if I have to suffer, I figured you do too.

My knitting has been rather unproductive lately. It's not for lack of trying, but rather my fickle, fickle nature and a desire to truly love my finished product. With my first few sweaters, I made the pattern exactly as written and ended up with finished projects that I liked, but that didn't fit me very well. My Slanting Gretel was the first sweater I knit that I really, truly loved. My first few efforts taught me a lot about sweater construction, and I finally felt confident enough to try some modifications. I put a ton of effort into the Gretel, ripping back and modifying to make a sweater that fit JUST the way I wanted it to, and it was totally worth all the work.

Until this happened.

I will not go into the details, as it still hurts my heart too much to talk about it. Let's just say that my sweater, my 100% wool sweater, was introduced to the washing machine (by someone other than myself) and their relationship did not go so well. It is felted beyond recognition, and would barely fit a four year old. It's placed on top of my Rosamund cardigan to give you some perspective on just how much it shrunk.

Anyway, despite its early demise, the Gretel really underscored just how important it is for me to really like the projects I'm making. Why put all that time and effort (not to mention money) into something that you not TOTALLY in love with? With this new perspective, I have been a frogging machine.

My Pole? I got about 220 yards into it before I admitted to myself that I wasn't really digging it and would probably never wear it.

FROGGED.

It is now becoming a Que Sera.

My Strafford tee? I had the back panel about 90% done before I acknowledged that it was turning into a shapeless sack, wasn't flattering, and I would probably never wear it.

FROGGED.

It is now becoming a Coraline.

Though I'm bummed about the countless hours of knitting I just ripped and rewound into yarn cakes, I'm hoping it will be worth it in the end. I'm in the mood for cardigans, and I've coveted both these sweaters since I first discovered them. I think I just need validation from someone that it was worth it...

And I haven't been TOTALLY unproductive. A FO post is coming soon. Until then, here's a taste.

Distractions, and yarn porn

Since the beginning of 2011, I have been working hard to keep my number of works in progress minimal (three or less). I havealways suffered from startitis, and found that when I limited the number of things I was working on, things (GASP!) actually managed to get finished. Imagine

that! I was successful with this goal for an admirable four months. Up until last week, I was humming along on my Endpaper Mitts, and my Strafford Tee. Not quite monogamous, but as close as I get, and I was making considerable progress on both.

And then... this happened.

Last weekend, I went over to a fellow knitter's house for an evening of pizza, knitting, wine and Harry Potter. I already had the four most important ingredients for a fun time, but then this knitter upped the ante. She busted out her stash.

As someone who has only been knitting seriously for three years, my stash is rather paltry. Oh, sure, I have a basket filled with single skeins of sock yarn that were too pretty to resist, and a LOT of Cascade 220 in various colors. However, if required, I could combine all my piles of yarn throughout the house to one medium sized container. This was not the case for this knitter.

In addition to a respectable stash, this knitter has also a generous spirit, and she encouraged me (and the other knitter who was there) to have at it. There were very few stipulations on what we could or could not take, and I ended up making out like a BANDIT!

See that? That's about 900 yards of Dream in Color - Smooshy. It is squishy and fluffy, and the colors are beautiful. I already have big plans for it - it will become an Audrey in Unst.

And this? Three skeins of 100% alpaca, which is so soft I just want to rub it against my cheek (and have often been found doing just that). This is telling me it wants to become a hat and mitten set. Pattern still TBD.

And this - this is the coup de gras. This I felt so guilty taking that she had to reassure me no less than five times that it's been in her stash for years, and that she'd rather see it go to a home where it it would be used and loved and appreciated.

That's over 1,000 m of Wollmeise. 1,000 meters. Of WOLLMEISE. I carry a skein of it around with me everywhere I go, like one of those horrid women with their 2 pound chihuahuas in their purse. I take it out from time to time, just to tell it that I love it, and to admire its vibrant, beautiful colors.

So instead of monogomously plodding away on my sweater and my mitts, I have spent countless hours on Ravelry, dreaming of what these yarns will become. I am using them as motivation to finish my projects, and it's working so far, but all I want to do is start turning them into something amazing.

You know what? Monogamy is overrated anyway :)