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Why I never finish things

I started this post in January, time for new beginnings. But I'm not starting new things just yet. I've got all these old things I just want done:
  • Anhinga
  • Morrigan
  • Rabbits
  • Bezoar
  • Apophis

I'm going back to them, and looking at them, and trying to make them work, rather than just make them done.


Take, for example, the socks I knit Ed for Christmas. I finished the first one on the 24th of December at about 8 pm. There was no way I was going to get the second one done in time -- I'd started it, but I was maybe six inches down the leg, and those (click the link!) are some long socks.


And then it was Christmas morning, and my brother-in-law was gloating about his new handknit socks, so I gave Ed his one wrapped sock. But it was too long in the foot, so I knit the second one shorter. But it was too short. So I ripped out both toes and made them right. I finished these socks at like midnight on Jan 3.


And now, with my Christmas knitting finally done (I also had to do ones for my sister - sorry, Ravelry link), I can return to Anhinga and Morrigan. Now, Morrigan I freely admit has some issues. It's still in its box... though not for long. It will probably come out next week. But Anhinga? It's stocking stitch! how could it go wrong? Well, it's got some funky shaping. I'm using yarn at a much different gauge. In October, before NaNoWriMo started and I abandoned all non-christmas knitting, I got the back, all three front pieces (seamed even!) and one sleeve done. And then I put it in a bag.


Sometimes that's what you have to do. When I took it out on Tuesday, I looked at that one sewn-in shoulder. When I seamed it, I knew there was a problem. My row gauge is way low. The schematic says the cap should be 5", and this one was way puckered inside the armscye. I don't know what happened with the picked-up stitches across the diagonal slope, but well, they were pulling weirdly. I unseamed the sleeve and measured it, and my cap was 3.75" which explains a lot. And then, while I was at it, I unseamed the front diagonal slope where I'd picked up the stitches, then picked up new stitches and three-needle-bind-off'd the slope. You can see. You'll always be able to see. But it looks better now.


When this sucker is done, I can start something new!


I set a goal for myself of sending out a story per month in 2011. But I think I need to take these stories out of the boxes I've banished them to, and read them before I send them on their ways. It won't be so bad.


Maybe I'm just using this to rationalize the great Dan debacle of 2010/2011, and say I can make it right for 2012. I don't know.

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