In between times

I finally was able to pick up my sweater and get back to working on it.  The couple days break from its volume was the best possible way to rest my hands.  

Its kind of a fussy thing, because of how I am knitting it.  

There are always 3 balls of yarn to work from.  I wanted substantial stretches of colour on all the parts but I did not want to have to sew it together.  If you aren't working the parts at the same time, you have to put a lot more work into tracking shaping increases and decreases.  It might be different with a pattern but nobody knits a pattern for me.  Its just easiser.  Fussier this way, but easier.  

Its looking marvelous.  This is from this morning.  I'm just a couple inches into the 'skirt' of the thing.  

There still is a very long way to go, but it looks really great and I am pleased.

In between though, when I can't knit heavy stuff and when my hands rebel at even the lightest laces, I kept myself busy winding.  I have a substantial amount of yarns in hanks (versus skeins) and I prefer to keep it wound and ready at hand.  The state of my stash is such that keeping it tidy and well packed is important and yarn cakes are a lot easier to keep stored nicely.  

 This was the stack I worked on the last few days.

 Some grey and white Briggs and Little Sport.  I think I have it for a top, and I may or may not use it for that.  I'm not sure the gray is what I want.  If not the grey, then perhaps this?

I think I have 7 skeins of this.  I know how it happened, but the last 3 skeins were supposed to be denim, not Blue Jeans, which is what this is.  (This is Durasport)  I wanted this for a shawl, but I have found out that I don't need 3 skeins, just 2, so this lovely soft colour could go with the white and the soft greay could be something completley different.

I had hoped to get more of this, which is Durasport but the discontinued colour of Denim.  Oh Denim, I loved you well.

This Denim will do very well for the shawl, and I do have 2 so it looks like I am set.

There is only 1 problem with winding as a way to stay with the yarn when you can't knit.  You get to thinking of other things you would love to make.

I ended up pulling this out

 Some wonderful blue green marine coloured sock yarn.  I have 2 more balls of this and it is destined for a shawl.  I could buy dozens of patterns for it, but I have so many lovely books with great things in them.  Time to use those up too.  I had a very hard time keeping my fingers from starting this immediately.  Sense reigned when my hands wouldn't cooperate and I managed to leave it at home yesterday.

Having something interesting in the wings is a ploy I use to trick me.  It is enough to keep me entertained and motivated to complete what is at hand.

It doesn't always work.