Mired in the Details

Am I the only one who gets mired in the details of knitting goals? Oh, I don't just mean does anyone else set goals for him/herself, then strive to meet them. I mean actually drill down to the most minute of details regarding that goal.

For instance, I spend just a few minutes choosing the projects I want to complete during a particular month, then spend the next 2-3 days casting all of them on and relishing in the delight of a new project started. After those first few days though, I really take a look at what I've carved out for myself. Is it too much? Am I setting myself up for failure? Well, let's take a good look at it. It took me about an hour to do those 10 rounds on the mitten (plus start dinner, chat with hubby, take a smoke break), so if I have 40 more rounds to do then the thumb to knit, I should be able to finish this mitten in about 5 hours. If I spend 2 hours tonight and 2 hours tomorrow on the mitten, I should be able to finish it up on Sunday. But you know, the Cropped Lace Top is in need of some attention. After all, I finished up the back 3 days ago, then set it aside. I should spend some time casting on the front and knitting a couple of the lace patterns. It took me about an hour per pattern to do the back, so if I spend an hour tonight, an hour tomorrow, and an hour Sunday, I will be half done with the front. Wait, that means more than likely I won't spend the full 2 hours needed tonight and tomorrow to get the mitten done on Sunday. No problem, I'll do an hour per day on the mitten and be done with the pair on Tuesday. Of course, I've been itching to work on Mermaid (decided it would fit better using size 3's instead of the 2's I was using so had to start over and I hate to leave frogged projects alone until they are back to their previous state of completion). Dart a guilty glance toward the knitting bag holding Paul's Sanquhar gloves, and decide some time really needs to be spent working on them. And on and on and on.

Next thing you know, I have a steno pad out with a list of all the days left in the month and start writing out daily goals in order to meet my monthly goals. Of course, I'm a tad agressive with them, but not so agressive that there isn't the possibility that I will meet them and be able to work on something I shouldn't have cast on in the first place. Yeah, yeah, I know, but if I didn't start Mermaid when I did, I wouldn't be able to wear it before it's too warm. (have I mentioned I can rationalize just about anything).

Anyone else get that mired down in the details, or am I just hopelessly anal?

Anyway, as mentioned above, I did finish the back of the Cropped Lace Top. The front is now cast on and I've completed pattern A (yay! only one more daily goal to meet before spending time with Mermaid). This should be finished up pretty quickly once I've finished the Anemoi mittens.



Speaking of Anemoi mittens. Yes, I do have 40 more rounds to complete before knitting the thumb. And, yes, I do plan to have these done on Tuesday, unless I get on a roll and am able to finish them sooner.



I had gotten Mermaid to the first gusset, but it just seemed like it was going to be too small. The pattern calls for a 3mm needle, which falls between a US2 and US3. Since the small size could be a tad smaller for me, I decided to go with the US2, but after doing some math on the gauge I was getting in the actual garment (which darnit wasn't the same as the swatch I did), it was going to be skin tight and that just wasn't going to do with this sweater. Off the needles it came last night and I wouldn't put it down until I had gotten it to the point where the last picture was taken. Alas, that wasn't the first gusset, but I'm allowing myself to work on it any day I meet my daily knitting goal (there are those details again!)