Archive of Knitting UFOs

In knitter speak, UFO is an unfinished object. Let's just say I have a knack for them. I've been making a little extra effort lately to finish up some long overdue projects but I don't have total confidence yet, given my track record.

Cases in point:

2005:: I was really in love with this fluffy sweater in my first knitting pattern book. I boldly struck out to knit myself a sweater. I think I even went so far as to buy this yarn on ebay. I know it was out of production and it took some effort to find it. Once I got about a third of the way done, I became afraid that the sweater was going to be too small or that I wasn't going to have enough yarn or that it was just too fluffy, so I gave up. Now that I look at it again, it might be okay. Ah, maybe. It is so soft and fluffy. It's been off my to-do list for over five years but now I'm having second thoughts.

2007:: I decided to knit the Juliet sweater right to specifications. Same yarn, same color as the pattern. I had plenty of extra yarn so no fears about running out. Little room for error. But, the lace pattern was hard for me and I spent an awful lot of time on this. The printed out pattern was crumpled, ripped, and taped back together. Now it seems I've lost the pattern and I have no trace of it in my email or computer files. I took the sweater to knitting group one night recently and wasted the entire time trying to see if I could figure out the lace repeat. Then I spent a couple more nights at home doing the same. I finally realized, just last week, that I could quit being such a cheapskate and spring the $6.50 for the the pattern again so I can finish this already. It would take less than a two or three nights to do so.

2008:: I knitted these lovely spa socks in organic cotton for my mother-in-law for Christmas. Ambitiously, I told my sister-in-law I was planning to knit her a pair too. Then, surprise surprise, after some procrastination, I lost the pattern. Definitely a theme running here. Even moreso, it was an obscure pattern in a magazine that I bought on ebay. Wow, I really do repeat myself. This Christmas I thought I could redeem myself so I started scouring Ravelry for a suitable pattern replacement. Turns out it's hard to find sock patterns for worsted weight cotton. But, then miracle of miracles, I went to buy this book for a project my knitting group is planning, and it had the perfect pattern replacement. I started knitting the socks at the same time I started knitting my husband a hat. The hat required the same needles for the bind off so I took the sock off the needles right when I got to the gusset (the hard part). Bad move. I haven't put the socks back on the needles yet. I will. Really, I will. Lesson here: don't believe me when I say I'm going to knit you something for a holiday. Or just prepared to wait a few years.

2011:: Despite all these perfectly suitable projects that I should be knitting, I got ahead of myself and cast on for this sweater. It was 10 degrees out and I was really cold. It was a desperate move. I'm knitting it out of yarn I bought back in 2005 to knit my husband a sweater. Soon after I started the sweater for him, I realized he didn't actually wear big itchy, chunky sweaters. It was a nice gesture, but totally wasted effort and yarn. The first several inches of that long lost sweater project are now sitting on my end table in the living room waiting to be frogged so I'll have enough yarn for a sweater for myself. And yes, clearly my sister-in-law deserves those long ago promised socks but I seriously must finish this project before the snow melts and I lose the pattern. Cotton ankle socks will be just perfect for the spring, right?

And that, my friends, is my knitting life. I could say I'm going to stop these habits and maturely work on one project at a time. But who would I be kidding? It's clearly not my style.