Restless Needles

I don't know what to knit next.

I mean...I am knitting. I cast on yet another pair of Eowyns; this time in pink wool and purple Kid Silk, but I went down a needle size because the last time I did this they were a bit loose. Now they are a bit tight. But, I have big wrists, and they aren't for me.

But Eowyn is a 3 hour project, and I am hankering after something bigger. I went to Get Knitted today and, after half an hour of browsing, during which I was unable to find a satisfactory colour match for Rowan's Herring tweed (which they irritatingly do in DK and chunky, but not the aran I needed), I snapped and bought 10 skeins of Debbie Bliss Maya in dark purple. It was a bargain at £50 (really...it was a bargain) and I feel at peace because that yarn has been on sale on the GK website for at least 18 months. I had it in mind to knit the Central Park Hoody with it, as my first proper sweater project. I read the pattern carefully tonight and it seems simple enough. I was all ready to swatch.

And then I realised...I am approximately 300 yards short. And that's 300 yards, if I knit a size down to what I intended and block the crap out of it and hope it fits. Now, I could knit it without the hood but that seems to defeat the object. I could go for it and hope for the best, but I know I'll probably end up unable to frog it if I get to the end and realise I don't have enough for a satisfactory ending. I bought the last stocks the shop had, so I can't go back. And if I decide not to go for it - what will I use it for? And when will I feel happy about splashing out on yarn for the Hoody?

Big questions, folks. I bet you're glad you don't have my problems.

I'm blocking Ester as we speak. Finally. I pinned it all out nice and spritzed it with water scented with a little autumn BPAL, to disguise the fact that the bottle used to hold antibac spray (if I was going to wait until I remembered to buy a clean spray bottle, I wouldn't have Ester by spring 2009, let alone next year). Pinned, in a bright light, I can see lines running across the piece where obviously the yarn was dirty or something. I don't know that washing it will help. I am not even sure dying it will. I am just hoping that it won't be too obvious when I'm wearing it.

In the end I blocked it to 2XL even though I'd intended to make it just XL. This is a direct result of the wonder that is Ravelry. I finally received my invite for the beta version of this uberknitting site last week, and I have spent a vast amount of time on it since - which is why I know that people found Ester to be meanly sized. This website is serious about being good. It's like someone has taken the best ideas on the web and applied them to knitting. I have found loads of ideas for projects I want to knit, and it's so much fun to see other people's takes on patterns. Best of all, it synchs my blog to my profile. If this wasn't already mostly a knitting blog, it's going to be now.

It's got very wintry recently. I am starting to feel a bit festive. I saw a promotional poster in a card shop today of a slutty Santa girl in a Santa boob tube and hat. The whole thing was slightly repellent, but for the fabulous Santa wrist warmers she was wearing. This may be my next turn with Eowyn - red, with white lacey bits. I wonder how many times I can knit the same pattern. Maybe I should give up knitting anything else and just stick to this one item.

No pictures today, I'm too pensive. But you can expect a nice picture of me wearing a properly finished Ester in my next update. Promise.