What’s on Your Needles?

I’m not a focused person.  I start one project, get bored, then begin something else because it haunts my brain.  So now I have several items in the works.  I have finished a few things, but we’ll talk about those later.  This is about works in progress.  Even more so, those projects that are actually on my needles, not the two or three projects that are awaiting assembly.  More on those later, too.

My favorite yarn right now is Homespun by Lion Brand.  It’s not a fancy hand-dyed boutique yarn.  But it is made in America.  It’s fuzzy and nubby, and even the non-variegated colorways host are multi-hued.  It comes in 2 thicknesses, or weights, bulky and super bulky.  Which means projects finish quickly.  Always a plus for the attention-span challenged like me.

First up is the “8 Hour Throw.”  I’m not following the pattern exactly.  It calls for size 50 circular needles (needed to hold 40 huge stitches).  I already have a pair of straight size 35 needles and refuse to buy another pair of humongous needles.  Instead, I’m making it in three strips, changing the number of rows to get the same approximate size.  At the rate I’m going (only the first two colors of the first strip are done), I’ll be finished by next winter.  Definitely not 8 hours!

That’s because I keep finding new things to knit.  Like the mega-long scarf that was part of the Homespun extravaganza at Michaels.  The color is called Vineyard, with blues and golds and reds.  I love how it’s knitting up.

Then there’s the Bramble Scarf which I got from the Knitting Daily TV show.  The colorway I’m using is called, ironically enough, Bramble.  Because I bought the yarn in my first foray out after the “blizzard of 16,” it wasn’t my first choice.  (It was the only colorway available in sufficient quantity.)   That said, I’m liking the way it’s turning out, as well.  It’s not a color combo I’d have normally picked but I do like its earthy tones.  Unfortunately, I can work on it only a few rows at a time as it’s 100% wool.  Any longer and my eyes and sinuses protest.

The last two current projects are are hats.  The black and gold one is a stocking cap part of Red Hearts’s Team Spirit collection.  I’d say “Go Hawks!” except that I’m making it for my best friend’s husband, a Mizzou graduate.  (I will be making one for myself in the future.)  The dull gray one won’t be so dull once it’s finished.  It comes complete with cat ears.  🙂  I’ll definitely post a photo when it’s done.