52ppIV AND 12in2011

I think there are several reasons sock knitting has eluded me this month and yarn purchases continue to occur.

First off, let me say that 28 pairs of socks in 29 weeks are a lot socks. That’s 56 individual socks. Sure some of them were baby socks. But 56! I have to admit that I’m worried there is some burnout going on. As comfortable as it for me to knit on size 1 needles, I am getting tired of producing the same thing over and over. And complicated interesting patterns don’t really speak to me, because they are slower and require more brain power. The other variable is the yarn which has lead me down the yarn buying path since stripping yarn matches so well with simple socks and my stash is remarkable low on stripping yarn. I just did a quick count, before going stripping yarn crazy there were only 11 skeins in the stash of stripping yarn. So I’ve stunted/halted my sock knitting by forcing myself to overproduce unchallenging socks. Realizing this, I’m giving myself permission to knit other things.

And once that permission was granted, well don’t you know that I went a little crazy. A couple new books arrived at my house, the Sock yarn book, and the New England Knits: Timeless Knitwear with a Modern Twist. Both have enticed me away from socks and onto other things. The NE Knits book is seriously beautiful. I class unto itself. I’m so inspired by 7 or 8 of those patterns that I want to knit nothing but sweaters. But coming back to Earth, I realize that I knit myself two sweaters in 2009, and so far two sweaters in 2010. So before I launch into giant sweaters worth of yarn purchases I decided to do two things.

First finish my Lefyi sweater. I knit half of in a week this summer while The Boyfriend was at fishing camp, and upon his return I promptly put in the closet to sit untouched until now. There are three other sweaters on the needles right now but two are summer weight so no rush there, and the third is colorwork which I intended to be a slow project.

Secondly join the 12in2011 group on Ravelry. This is a club that encourages it’s members to prep for a 2011 stash down by identifying 12 projects they really want to make next year and then pairing them with yarn that’s already in the stash. In my usual fashion, I over did it, and found 17 projects. But the point is, half of them are sweaters from New England Knits.

So once the Lefyi is finished, I’m launching into a new adventure with the 12in2011. That’s not to say I wont knit socks anymore. I’m just not going to feel guilty for knitting something other than a sock. And I’m still accomplishing the same end goal of using up some stash yarn if I stick to the rules of the 12in2011.

First on the needles…January 1^st 2011…

The Melrose Peacoat by Cecily MacDonald using my navy Cascade Eco+. Don’t worry, I’ll give a full accounting of what my 12in2011 in the coming weeks as I get prepped for it.