Still Here... Just!

I've been very quiet on here recently, I know, and I haven't had much to show either.

Both of these things are connected to how much I've got going on at the moment. I'm leaving my job tomorrow, and next Friday boyfriend and I are moving in together. There's so much stuff to sort out that I haven't been doing much in the way of crafting!

I'm very excited, but also daunted by how much there is to do in the next week. We're moving from 2 small flats into one house, which is great in terms of having so much space, but stressful in terms of logistics *laughs*

As for the job - well, I'm taking this opportunity to do something new. More about that later, when things have settled down a bit!!!

On Disappointment

After my post on Friday, about my disappointing socks, I started to muse about disappointing knitting.

I am quite lucky, I have been delighted with most of the projects to come off my needles. I've certainly had projects that I never finished because they weren't turning out right, but very few that I consider truly disappointing FOs.

My Brown jumper is, in hindsight, a little disappointing. The arms are too long, the neckline is bodged, the colour of the yarn is overwhelmingly samey and the body is a little short. But, and this is an important but, it was my first jumper/sweater and therefore those faults aren't so much disappointments as learning experiences. I keep meaning to go back to it and see if I can fix it to be more my liking though *laughs*

The very first garment I made, which was supposed to be a capelet type thing, came out completely wrong. My gauge was pretty far out, and I was a little saddened, until I blocked it to within an inch of its life, and ended up with a cute shrug that I prefer to the cape *smiles*

Now that I look back through my projects, there are some that I love, some that I like, some that I like well enough but don't seem to wear... But nothing that is really disappointing.

Recently I ripped out the back and half a front of a cardigan I had started, because I knew it wouldn't turn out right at all. I am learning more and more to see when a project just isn't going anywhere - which is something I didn't do well at first. I have other projects that I never finished, but I always felt a little guilty about them.

Of course, finishing something only to be disappointed seems like a much worse fate, so I am happy to have learned when to say enough *laughs*

Well, They Got Finished And That's The Best I Can Say About Them!

I have a finished project that I haven't posted about despite finishing it a couple of weeks ago... Well, by "finished" I pretty much mean "cast off because I was sick of it" *laughs*

Behold - The Noro Socks of Frustration and Disappointment:

While the colours are great, I don't like anything else about them *laughs* The yarn was awful to work with, thick and thin, it came apart in my hands at least 3 times, and just rough and unpleasant to the touch.

I haven't blocked them yet, but hopefully a soak in some hair conditioner will soften them up!

Because I got sick of them, they're really short and hard to photograph without looking weird, so I tried to take an arty shot...

*laughs* Not my best work!

When I split the ball of yarn into 2, I decided to wind one ball in a different direction to the other, so that I would get a kind of upside down mismatch...

It worked, but I gave up on them before I finished a full colour repeat. I tried but in the end decided that knitting something that I got no pleasure out of was a bad plan so I cast off early. And that was such a good feeling!

Another busy week...

... Another lack of much knitting progress *laughs* I really have nothing to show off today, I've made a tiny amount of progress but nothing worth taking a picture of.

However, I realised that I had forgotten to post a picture of my A Stash Addict yarn, and it is so pretty...

I was initially going to use it for socks, but the colours are so soft and delicate that I think it has to be a shawl of some sort. Which is daunting, because lace!

Lists, Glorious Lists*

I was looking through my blog archives for something the other day, and stumbled across a post from December 2011, with a list of knitting techniques/skills to check off. I thought it would be fun to update it, and see what else I have done since then *grins*

Bold are ones I have done, italics I intend to try at some point.

- Afghan
- I-cord
- Garter stitch 
- Knitting with metal wire
- Shawl
- Stockinette Stitch
- Socks: Top-down
- Socks: Toe-up
- Knitting with camel yarn
- Mittens: Cuff-up
- Mittens: Tip down
- Hat
- Knitting with silk
- Moebius band knitting 
- Participating in a KAL 
- Sweater
- Drop stitch patterns (as long as Clapotis counts!)
- Knitting with recycled/secondhand yarn
- Slip stitch patterns
- Knitting with banana fiber yarn
- Domino knitting - don't even know what it is!
- Twisted stitch patterns
- Knitting with bamboo yarn - I have some in my stash just waiting for its turn
- Two end knitting 
- Charity knitting
- Knitting with soy yarn
- Cardigan
- Toy/doll clothing 
- Knitting with circular needles
- Baby items
- Knitting with your own handspun 
- Slippers - bad bad bad, but that was my own fault
- Graffiti knitting 
- Continental knitting
- Designing knitted garments - well, I designed something for myself, it's only ok, but it counts ;)
- Cable stitch patterns
- Lace patterns
- Publishing a knitting book
- Scarf
- Teaching a child to knit - I attempted this with boyfriend's youngest!
- American/English knitting
- Knitting to make money - doesn't appeal in the slightest
- Buttonholes
- Knitting with alpaca
- Fair Isle
- Norwegian knitting
- Dying with plant colors
- Knitting items for a wedding
- Household items
- Knitting socks on two circulars - no point, I'm happy with DPNs or Magic Loop
- Olympic knitting
- Knitting with someone else’s handspun yarn
- Knitting with dpns
- Holiday-related knitting
- Teaching a male how to knit
- Bobbles
- Knitting for a living
- Knitting with cotton
- Knitting smocking
- Dyeing yarn
- Steeks
- Knitting art
- Fulling/felting
- Knitting with wool
- Textured knitting
- Kitchener BO
- Purses/bags
- Knitting with beads 
- Swatching
- Long tail CO
- Entrelac 
- Knitting and purling backwards
- Machine Knitting
- Knitting with self-patterning/self-striping/variegated yarn
- Stuffed toys
- Knitting with cashmere
- Darning
- Jewelry
- Knitting with synthetic yarn
- Writing a pattern
- Gloves
- Intarsia
- Knitting with linen
- Knitting for preemies
- Tubular CO
- Freeform knitting
- Short rows
- Cuffs/fingerless mitts/armwarmers
- Pillows
- Knitting a pattern from an online knitting magazine
- Rug
- Knitting on a loom
- Thrummed knitting
- Knitting a gift
- Knitting for pets - not mine, but I did make toys for a friend's dog
- Shrug/bolero/poncho
- Knitting with dog/cat hair - why?!
- Hair accessories
- Knitting in public
- Double knitting

At the time, out of 100 I had already done/attempted 43. The total is now 55. Interestingly, the ones I have done since I first posted the list are split between ones I had intended to try, and ones that I initially had no intention of doing. 

I would have expected to get through more of the list in the time since I first saw it, but there are still things on there that I don't plan to try because they don't appeal. Regardless, I'm happy with what I've achieved so far - I've only been knitting a few years after all *laughs*

*Ok, so I really like lists!