Lofty Goals

Or is it "The best laid plans of mice and Anns..."

Anyway, I've come to terms with the fact that I'm not going to be done the Celtic Critter Cardigan in time for Rhinebeck.

Yeah, it turns out it takes a really long time to work 214 or so stitches in seed stitch. And then the stitch count exploded when I did the increases for the cables. It takes even longer to work 260 or so stitches in a cable pattern.

Which isn't to say I'm not enjoying it. It's just taking much longer than expected.

Actually, considering I haven't touched it in like a week it's going to take a long time indeed.

Excuses, Excuses
A few things are/were contributing to the lack of knitting progress.

First I'm still lacking in knitting time. Turns out instead of converting my morning commuting time into knitting time we've converted it into sleeping time. Which is awesome.

Instead of getting up at 6 am, being in the shower by 7 am, and trying to leave the house by 8 am. I'm not getting out of bed until 7 am! Hubby gets up a little earlier. The alarm clock must have been turned down during the move because I don't hear it go off any more. What has been waking me up is the tea kettle whistling.

The layout of our apartment causes you to pass through the kitchen on the way to the bathroom. Hubby has been putting the kettle on as he passes by. Very convenient for me.

However, I still have the goal of settling down to work by 9 am, so whoosh! There goes the knitting time.

Since my knitting time has been constricted and late in the evenings, I was focusing on those socks in the previous post. Did I mention that is the sock yarn my friends in Connecticut gave me? Well, I bought it with the gift certificate they gave me. Close enough.

Finally, I think I have a bit of a mental block over the sweater because the little bit I've worked so far seems awfully big.

I mean, it's supposed to be 44 inches because I want it to go around my butt and I matched the ease at the hem to the ease at the bust. After I'd worked a few rows I held it up to myself and it seemed a lot roomier than I had envisioned. Of course we've previously established that I have no concept of how ease on paper translates into the real world. We learned this when I made the Schleppy Sweater and it came out more formfitting than I expected.

Oh, by the way, it was a rainy, chilly miserable day yesterday and I got to wear the Schepply Sweater for the first time this season! It was so cozy. mmmm

You Call These Choices?
Anyway. I fear the hem of the Celtic Critter Cardigan is going to be too wide. I won't know for sure until the sweater is down. That is an awful lot of knitting time to invest for something that might not fit properly.

My other option is to rework the numbers. Scale down the bottom hem to closer to actual body measurements. That would mean reworking the bottom hem numbers and the decrease numbers to the bust target. And it's not just a matter of doing the math. There will be fudging involved because of the cables and wanting them to land in a certian place.

sigh.

I suppose the fudging might be easier since I have the current piece to use for reference.

Anyway, I should make a decision or this sweater is never going to be made. At this point I'm only about 15 rows in, which isn't a big investment in the grand scheme of things.

And didn't I say that accepting frogging as part of making your own design is an important step?

New Rhinebeck Knitting Goal
After I came to terms with the fact that I wouldn't finish the CCC in time I turned my attention to the other yarn I bought at Rhinebeck.

I decided I had time to knit a pair of socks. That goal was abandoned when the Simple Socks ended up taking longer than anticipated (see Excuse #1).

I've tossed that goal aside as well and have turned my attention to some of the other yarn my friends at Westport Yarns "bought" me. I've cast on for a scarf and have been knitting away on it.

See, I'm going to see Pam at Rhinebeck and figure it will be nice to show I'm actually using the yarn they got me rather than letting it languish in the hoard.

Not that I need to worry. As fellow knitters and crocheters they totally understand about having a hoard.

Or wearing half finished scarves with the needles still attached.