choosing the next project.....

How do you choose your next project?  I just finished the tokyo shawl, which may be my all time favorite knit...e-v-e-r, and I'm struggling now to find something to keep my attention.  (it's a rather limited attention span on a good day.)  Same thing happens after I read a great book.  Nothing measures up, so I move on to something else...and something else...and something else.  

This is how my knitting has gone since that shawl was finished...

 

Maybe something smallish...

that might make good little Christmas gifts.  Lavender sachet hearts! I now have a staging area, since the yarn, pattern, and dps I adapted into straight needles all fit nicely in a yarn bowl.  I did one heart (it DOES smell good) but this project is o-v-e-r.  OVER.  Not fun.  OVER.  (knitting IS supposed to be fun, right?)

 

Maybe I should dig out an oldie?..

like---

whisper wrap?  nope.  One row and I knew this wasn't the one.

 

How about a baby sweater?....

Putting it in a cute project bucket and matching the tape measure to the yarn didn't help.  (The back IS done. That's enough for now....in the upper left corner?---that's a sleeve started...and that's how it's going to stay for awhile.)

 

OK.  Maybe I'll find that MIA sweater I started in the spring....

By the time I found it, I had unearthed two others...it's still in the upper 90s here.  Nope.  Not these, either.

 

uh-oh...put that away!!

that's my travel project.

 

Could I be bored enough to actually work on another pew shawl??

(hee hee. What a jokester I am.  That WAS a joke.)  NO WAY!!

 

I also found another sock minus its mate, two large, wooly shawls (after the Tokyo, large and wooly shouldn't be a problem, should it?), a drop-stitch scarf in mohair (I hate mohair), and two more partially knit sweaters that are waiting to become more fashionable again.

 

New tactic.  Let's forget about the pattern, forget about the end result, and just go for the yarn...

Swans Island natural color collection merino....nice.  

Very very nice.

 

1050 yards of soft, scrumptious nice!!

 

 

 

 

 

 

Comments

[Katrine]

You sound just like me!! I've started and stopped so many things in the last few days it's scary. I just need to SETTLE into something. Enjoy the travel shawl. k

[Kat]

Look at all those WIPs! Glad you found something to settle on, at last :) That yarn looks so squishable, and I absolutely love that orange color.

[Tracey]

My heart was beating a little fast seeing all your wips ;)
I was in my lys today and left with enough yarn for a pair of socks and
two shawls. so much for knitting from my stash, but it is my birthday month so it's all okay.

Thinking of you and I want to see photos!

[chris]

I have lost my mojo while moving house but seeing that last pattern (Cameo?) I may have to cast on as that's my most worn scarf.
Enjoy!

[Iris]

Glad to hear you also have one or two WIPs... ;)

I kind of liked all of the projects you showed, but I know, it sometimes is just like that, a new project needs to be started because none of the already existing ones seems the least bit inspiring.

Looking forward to seeing this new one grow!

[karen]

Oh I'm glad I'm not the only one passing up what is on the needles to knit something fresh :) what is that pattern?? lovely and the pop of orange!!! LOVE :) Sorry you are mourning the loss of the last project.

[Andrea @This Knitted Life]

Oh my girl...you got a lot of projects on the needles. And I was fretting over my three! Ha! Enjoy the Swans Island.

[Jennifer]

It looks like you have your pick of many fun things to work on. I like what you chose in the end. The color is really fresh and pretty.

[Alina]

Wow! You have a lot of WIPs! I would be able to keep track of so many at once :) I know this feeling when you are in between projects, at one hand it's exciting to cast on something new and on the other I always miss the project that just got off the needles...

[Martina]

Sounds like you need to invite someone round to work on your WIP for you! So much inspiration there! I usually pick my next project while I'm trying to finish the current one (a little incentive...you get new squishy yarn when you're done!) and I end up trawling for nice patterns on ravelry!

[Linda]

I start things constantly! And then when I get up to 30 - I eventually start whittling it down a bit. If I get a feeling of dread or blahhh when I pick it up several times - then I know it is time to take it off the needles and use it for something else! Three knits I'm really enjoying right now are the Orbit shawl; The Nangou shawl (really shawlettes) and the Windward scarf/shawl thingie! I think it is my favorite! So easy to do (altho it looks like is is hard). Well for me it does - LOL! But it is probably one of the most fun things I've done in a long time (only 58 rows in so far tho)! So we shall see...

Linda in VA

[Caffeine Girl]

LOL! I have a lot of WIPs, too, and they rarely fit my knitting mood. I guess that's why they are WIPS, huh?
I love Swans and the pattern. I think you found a winner.

[autumngeisha]

Aww, that's a shame about the lavender heart sachets. It turned out so cute! Loving that combo of beige and orange. Sometimes starting something new with beautiful yarn is just what's needed. Although I don't know how you can resist knitting with that gorgeous yarn for your Settler Shawl!

[alexis]

I think your heart is so cute! I don't love the picking-a-new -project stage either. For me, if I can't figure out what I want to to, I try to think of what person in my life has a birthday soon, and use that person as inspiration (what would look good on them? what would they like?) even if I don't end up giving them the finished knit as a birthday present.

[Camilla]

Oh my goodness the Tokoyo shawl is one of the most beautiful knits I have seen- it SO you Steph. Wow it is GINOURMOUS!
how about a finger-puppet- that would have been my speed after that project.

[Tracy]

haha... next project syndrome... it can been a tough one, as you illustrate so well here, Steph! I think it depends on the project just finished. If it's a big one, then a nice, quick instant-gratification project suffices. After a a lovely yarn project, I find it helps to do something with fabric. I find swapping between yarn and fabric often inspires the other, especially color-wise. At the moment I have 3 yarn WIPS and trying NOT to create more... LOL! ((HUGS))

[Nicky Gray]

Gee you so sound like me !

[ellen]

I loved this post and seeing all your knitting in action! It made me feel good. It made me feel like knitting :)