My Favorite and Least Favorite Projects

Knit & Purl Mama is hosting another contest for SP10 participants. List your favorite and least favorite projects. The favorite one is easy. My Simple Knitted Bodice from last fall. Lest you have forgotten, here's a pic of it.

What makes it my favorite? Many things. The fact that it's done is the number one reason. I'm super happy with the fit of it. The yarn, Anny Blatt Merinos, was a dream to work with, and the color is right up my alley. I love the pattern and how clearly written it was. I'm a big fan of the top-down raglan and this one did not disappoint. I even wore it when I was a knitster on Knitty Gritty. That's how much I love it and how proud of it I am.

What's my least favorite project? This one is a little tougher, because Robin wanted to know about least favorite *finished* projects. Let me tell you, if I don't like it, I ain't gonna finish it. I don't have many FOs (that I can think of) that I look back upon with distaste. If I include UFOs, I can answer easily. The lacewings sea silk shawl.

Let me first say that it has *nothing* to do with the yarn. The sea silk is wonder and delight all wound into yarn. The texture is magic running through your fingers. Wouldn't you think that would be enough to make it one of my faves, let alone push it to the bottom of the abyss of the dreaded? It's all about the pattern, baby. The Lacewings Sea Silk pattern just about did me in. The directions were poorly written and I found a couple of errors. I know I'm not the only person who was done in by this pattern either. The last straw occurred when I was knitting along quite decently, and a fellow knitter left our SnB group. When I raised my hand to wave goodbye, it caught on my ring and 7 stitches were pulled off. I should clarify that the 7 stitches weren't *just* pulled off, they were pulled off and pulled apart (read: laddered down when you didn't want it to be) down to where they originated as yo's. It was a horrific sight. It's been sitting in a clump, waiting to be frogged again for the tenth time. Here's a picture of the rascal before its unraveling.

I have a tendency to buy a lot of yarn and then put it away quietly. Really, what I post on the blog is not *everything* I buy in the way of yarny goodness. So when my comrades have been posting their recent Knit Happens online sale loot, I tucked my bags away. Maybe its the chinese guilt thing that causes me to do that. LiquidGirl convinced me that I should share my bounty with all. So imagine me shooting it from the rooftops. Here it is...

More Cascade 220 than any one person should have. This is just a sampling of each color. I acquired *multiple* skeins of each color, enough to make plenty of sweaters out of Stefanie Japel's Fitted Knits. There's also yarn to make Ariann, and sweaters for the Sweeties.

Both the Nashua Creative Focus Chunky and Debbie Bliss Cashmerino Chunky are also for sweaters in Fitted Knits. You'd think I would have noticed I was buying the same color, huh? Obviously, I put one in the shopping basket before the Cascade 220 rainbow spectrum and one after. Otherwise, how else could I explain this? I also got something else, but it's for my SP10, so no pictures. I don't wanna give anything away.

This last bit of wonderment is a giftie from Michelle, my SP9 recipient. Michelle, everytime I read your blog, I let out a giggle, chuckle or guffaw. Thanks for the wonderful gifts. I love all of it, especially my first skein of Australian yarn. Hmmmmm, maybe my stash needs to include yarn from every country. Here's a true story to tell you what an airhead I am. When I first saw the stitchmarkers, my eyes picked up t-i-n-k, and I thought to meself, "How does Michelle know I tink a lot?" Duh! Seriously, it was a few minutes later when I saw the stitchmarkers shuffled around and realized it also spelled k-n-i-t. (Hitting self in head) Okay, I ain't the sharpest knitting needle in the set. Thanks, Michelle. You rock.