Abagail & Sheldon

Dear Abagail:

I did not love knitting you. I decided, for possibly unfair reasons, that Rowan Calmer is a strange and undesirable yarn, and having just finished a million and a half garter stitches, even the relatively few that you called for were too many for me. Also I hate using a crochet needle even for anything so simple as attaching a button loop, as I can't even do that without it looking stupid, so you were annoying to knit to the very last.

But I forgive you. I have no choice. You're just too damn cute.

I have no earthly idea what size you are--I think I'll just put you on Baby Roo again and again until you fit her, which surely you will at some point, and the neat thing about you is that you're layerable, so it doesn't matter if you fit her in the Winter, Fall, Spring or Summer--you'll look great at any time.

And speaking of things that are far too cute for their own good, but really a pain in the ass to knit, Sheldon is coming along nicely:


That picture is a tad out of date; Sheldon now looks like a bowling pin. And I'm completely aware that the pain-in-the-ass-ness is entirely my fault, and a result of the fact that I'm choosing to knit Sheldon using only 24-inch circular needles in magic loop, which is about as short a needle length as magic loop will work with, and I'm only doing it because I'm too cheap to go out and buy another set if US3 needles if these will work--and they do work, just not, you know, pleasantly.

Still, only one leg to go and then I think--I hope--I'm done with the magic looping.

This morning I went through my really very reasonable stash that has only gotten out of hand because I consider remnants of other projects as perfectly usable stash (which, of course, they are, it's just hard sometimes to figure out what they can be used for). I now have everything I possess (with the exception of some very small remnants indeed that should probably just be thrown away, but hey, you never know when you might need to knit, say, half a hat, or a very small wristwarmer) organized in bags, and labeled with a plan for what it is to be and when it will become that. (Many of those are set aside for Christmas 2010, so that's a nice load off my mind and a way to shove them in the back and get to worry about them later to boot).

So check back here shortly for Urchin, Bella's Mittens, Twyla Shoulderette from Vintage Baby Knits, baby legwarmers, Anthropologie Capelet, and Little Sister's Dress, all of which I like but also all of which I would probably never have knit if I weren't beholden to all the yarn sitting there, sad and alone. And then, see, once they're done, I can go buy more yarn,* and I can make who knows what! It could be anything! The possibilities are endless!

I have been bored by my knitting. I need to look for excitement on the horizon.




*I can just see Dave scratching his head, saying "Well, okay, but haven't you been buying tons of yarn this whole time? There has been no shortage of yarn-buying. Nor do I foresee any shortage of yarn-buying, since, you know, you went to a yarn store yesterday. Not that this is a problem or anything. Yarn-buying is a good thing. I just...don't get it."