Castonitis

After that bout of Knitting Ennui this summer I am surprised to find that I am suddenly stricken with Castonitis. As you know, this is a disease of knitting that can be extremely dangerous. Before you know it you can find yourself with 12 projects and no needles left, which can lead to panic attacks and feelings of despair when you think about how long it's going to take to finish everything.

Right now I'm still in the honeymoon stage of Castonitis, when you think all new projects and yarn are charming and say to yourself, "I can totally finish that before September!" In the last three weeks I have Cast On:

• An Ann Norling Sweater that's going to be the model for the beginning sweater class that I'm teaching. It's been blocking for two days and is finally dry.
• Ysolda's Ishbel - a delightfully charming shawl that is knitting up very quickly and begs me to work on it.
• Some PerpenSOCKcular socks, which I ripped out after a few rows, not because I was frustrated, but for some unfathomable reason.

I have bought yarn for:

• The PerpenSOCKculars, that yarn is wound back up and sitting on the coffee table telling me how pretty it is and how I should knit it RIGHT NOW.
• A new earflap hat
• A matching pair of mittens
• A shaving kit bag (these are great, I'm going to write up a pattern for you!)
• I also have 25$ in my Paypal account and am going to buy more sock yarn. I'm tempted to get Beached or ST-1 or ST-2 Socks that Rock, but a friend of mine also recommends Hazel Knits sock yarn. Or I could get some more Old Maiden Aunt.
  

I was already working on:

• The Madison Heartwarmer (I saw working on, but really I haven't touched this since May.)
• The Dragon Socks
• Socks for my brother
• The Cabbage Leaf Baby Blanket

I absolutely need to knit a Lizard Ridge sample so people know what the class is about, and I need to knit it as soon as possible. And it's been suggested at the shop that I knit a model of my Indian Corn Scarf out of RYC Wool Tweed for a fun rustic look.

See what I mean? Castonitis. I'm also starting to get twitchy about Christmas knitting, but I am trying to firmly make up my mind that there will be no Christmas knitting. The problem is that I know so many delightfully knitworthy people. But I don't have time to knit something for everyone.

The best cure for Castonitis I find, is the pleasure of finishing something, so with that in mind I really powered through to finish the Ann Norling Sweater. It's a great pattern with lots of options and I'm really going to enjoy teaching it. Please excuse the messy pictures, it's after dark here.




Tomorrow I start Lizard Ridge! Last time I got so I could do a square in a day, so let's hope for the same speed this time!