Year of Projects Week 18/50

It's been a rough week; a dear family friend passed away entirely unexpectedly, and the necessary events surrounding death and grieving have occupied much of my time and most of my attention.  

It seems so trite to be thinking about knitting, but self-soothing is important, and all the better if a person can do it with wool instead of alcohol or chocolate.  There's a small measure of peace to be found in stockinette stitch, and pattern books, and the sorting and petting of wool.  

Project: Knitting
Remaining 2012 Goals (2 projects: 1 FO, 1 WIP)

• Devin's Irish Sweater (Pattern: Killybegs/Yarn: Cascade Eco+/FINISHED 01 November)
• Fathom colorwork sweater (Pattern: Blue Betty/Yarn: Madelinetosh Tosh Merino/ CO 5 November)

OTNs in July (2 projects: 1 FO, 1 WIP)

• SKA June 2012 (Pattern: Bevy Socks/Yarn: Malabrigo Sock/ FINISHED o1 August)
• Summer Garden Scarf (Pattern: none/Yarn: Araucania Chaiten, Plymouth Royal Llama Linen/CO #3 08 August 2012)

Mitts (3 projects)

• for Dad
• for Devin (Pattern: Pike's Mitts/Yarn: Brooklyn Tweed SHELTER)
• for me

Socks (8 projects: 1 FO, 1 WIP)

• SKA October 2012/Socks for Mom (Pattern: Phloem/Yarn: Shalimar Breathless/CO 17 October)
• SKA November 2012
• SKA February 2013
• SKA May 2013
• SKA July 2013
• Socks for Dad
• Socks for Devin
• Circus Socks (Pattern: none/Yarn: Shibui Sock (love!!)/FINISHED 03 October)

Thinking about 2013 Sweaters (4 projects)

• lace weight
• fingering weight
• white for Yom Kippur
• contiguous sleeves

Hats (4 projects: 1 FO, 1 WIP)

• Pattern: Sheep Heid
• Pattern: Lucy Hat
• Obsessions Hat (Pattern: Sideways Grande Hat/Yarn: Alpaca with a Twist Big Baby/CO 16 November)
• Pattern: Ocean Waves Hat/Yarn: Malabrigo Rios/FINISHED 29 July
  

Miscellaneous and Long-Term (1 project)

• handspun bookcover for Devin
• Squares (1)
• Puffs (19/285)

I didn't get to post on Wednesday, or take pictures this week, but my work in progress has been minor-- a couple of inches on the scarf that doesn't end, two puffs.  I admitted I didn't have enough yarn to finish the pair of socks for Dad, and frogged them... and then I put the wool in the closet for awhile.  This is the third time I've frogged that half of the skein, and while the yarn itself is holding up to the unmaking process, my patience with it is wearing thin.  I cast on a superfluous hat--  I've been obsessing about hats even though they weren't strictly on any of my lists; I added a "hat" category this week, so we'll see if my interest holds after I've got one done.  I'm about halfway through the back decreases on the torso of my sweater, and it's entirely unexciting to look at.

We're going up to Seattle for Thanksgiving-- I'm leaving tomorrow to spend extra time with my dad-- and while I'm seriously contemplating not bringing my computer, I'm also thinking about bringing all four of my WIPs.  Not because I think I'll actually get them all knit (although that would be nice), but because I've been knitting like a butterfly eats.  I have about 36 hours before I board the train, so I think I'll spin a bit and stare at my pile of yarn and needles.

If you'd like to weigh in on my decision, please do-- the WIPs in questions are the hat (which you've never seen because I didn't get pictures this week), the never-ending scarf (plain stockinette), Mom's second sock (not a knit-and-do-something-else kind of project, but not something that's arduous either... could be really good on the train), and the colorwork sweater (I'm alternating skeins, so that's kinda a big project bag).