On finishing and starting

This. sigh.

This was my Christmas present to myself. A gift for working so hard on all of those other gifts. A little thank you note to me. I have been working on it since the minute I finished knitting my last gift. It was finished a couple of days ago and is still needing a bath and to be blocked. I love everything about this project, it's the Holden Shawlette btw, I loved buying the yarn and needles to start it, downloading the pattern to my new Kindle (this has proven to be awesome for knitting) knitting with this yarn was crazy wonderful, the garter stitch eyelets, and even the tedious picot bind off. And what I loved even more about all of those things was selecting/buying/and casting on for a project just for me and then, and this is crazy, but finishing it before I began anything else.

Typically I pick up projects here and there, start a lot, finish few, and finish even fewer just days from starting. Most of them I quickly lose excitement in and if they are finished it's often because I have to (gift or something like that). This was entirely different. I was so excited about this thing that I went on to start and complete two more things! A square for a comfort blanket and a fair isle hat that doesn't fit.

For Christmas, Declan had gotten me enough yarn to knit this sweater I have been coveting. I've been siting here with 1400 yards of wool just waiting to be knit with, but a little fearful of starting after completing all of these quick projects. This sweater, on my best and quickest attempt, will take two or three weeks. It's not a hard pattern, it's just a freaking sweater and I have kids. So I've spent the past couple of days pumping myself up, giving myself little pep talks about how I can start and finish this sweater in hopes of wearing it before the weather changes back to warm, and I was already to do this but then this happened...

Damn fabric store. Damn cute little felt things I've been pinning on Pinterest. Damn cheap little felt squares at the fabric store, wool felt too nonetheless. This picture doesn't even show all of it. Sad face. I may never get this sweater started.

And what trip to the fabric store would be complete without some books on what to do with all of this fabric? Well they came from the library, and I've been jonesing on these books from Soule Mama and I was thrilled to find one.

Besides what's in these books I'm thinking felt garlands, and little gnome-like people and hearts for Valentine's Day and all of the white is planned for little felt letters and envelopes complete with stamps. Better get busy!