My Summer Knitting Goals

1) Finish brown Cestari socks. These have been receiving regular knitting time and need to get finished so I can know for sure that this cotton wool blend will feel good on the feet, as I expect, and whether it will fail to hold it’s shape, as I expect. I am about 20% through with sock 2.

2) Knit Cookie A’s Monkey socks

3) Finish a cotton sweater. Any cotton sweater.
a) There is the pink cabley one from, umm, maybe two years ago, that is maybe close but I have an attitude about the yarn shop where I bought the yarn and book. I thought I had too much yarn for this one so I returned a couple of balls inside the 60 day window but now I’m not sure there is enough yarn.
b) There is knitty grace, knit with a noro cotton. I think I’m at the “pay attention to the shaping parts”. There is plenty of noro cotton as it was a buy-the-bag price so I have 10 skeins. Probably enough for grace plus a baby set.
c) There is the 2nd time cotton red sweater that was frogged but wants to be knit. There are yarn nerves about this one.

4) Finish sari silk bag. I was going to say when I started it but I’m not sure. Angeluna, do you remember? It was about the time you started yours.

5) Knit from stash. I’m a new member of the stashalong blog. I made a short term two month commitment.

6) And then I was going to say finish more UFO’s than new-starts. But thinking about this goal, and doing-the-math makes me realize this is not really possible. Beware, I was a math major. For those who aren’t into math, scroll down to the pretty picture.

Let’s assume I start with 7 ufo/wips. If I want to finish more than I start, let’s assume I start 1 project for every 2 projects that I finish.
When I have 7 ufo/wips, and I finish 2 and start 1, I’ll have 6 ufo/wips.
When I have 6 ufo/wips, and I finish 2 and start 1, I’ll have 5 ufo/wips.
When I have 5 ufo/wips, and I finish 2 and start 1, I’ll have 4 ufo/wips.
When I have 4 ufo/wips, and I finish 2 and start 1, I’ll have 3 ufo/wips.
When I have 3 ufo/wips, and I finish 2 and start 1, I’ll have 2 ufo/wips.
When I have 2 ufo/wips, and I finish 2 and start 1, I’ll have 1 ufo/wip.

Then I would have just one project on the needles. And I can’t live like that.

If I have a cotton project, I have to have a wool project too. For my hands sake.
If I have a complex project, I must have a mindless project too. For knitting at knit nite, and in public, and when there’s a good tv show on.
If I have a mindless project, I need something interesting too.
If I have a big project, I have to have something small and portable too.
And so on.

So I’ll set a ufo/wip goal of 3 to 5 projects. I will whittle my ufo/wip numbers to 3, allowing one new start for every 2 finishes until the ufo/wip number reaches 3. Then I will allow new starts freely while the ufo/wip number is less than 5. ufo/wips can be “done” by knitting, frogging, or giving away. If it doesn’t exist, in my possession, it is “done” in my book.


Sorry... there is no pretty picture. But the bonus you get for getting to the bottom of this post is that you find out about a summer knitting goal contest at skeinsherway’s blog. I heard about this at the 2007 summer of stash blog and there are yarn and pattern prizes. Unfortunately the contest entries close today, May 31.

Maybe there will be a pretty picture later when I am home. Because I am not home now.

ETA pretty picture. The final FO of May:

knit with size 6us bamboo short straights. The yarn is sugar 'n cream shaded denim. Cast-on was 36 -- two ridges of garter to start and end. Edge stitches are 3 garter stitches and 1 reverse stockinette (why, I do not know, not needed at all). It's about 7.75 inches square.

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