The KnitPicks Podcast is Ruining My Life

Actually, it's not ruining my life. It's just making me want to do a lot of knitting projects. My new rule is that I have to finish a project before I start another. I currently have at least three unfinished projects, so that shouldn't be so hard. But I just listened to a whole slew of KnitPicks podcasts all in a row, and now I'm feeling dangerously ambitious.

1. I want to dye yarn. This is not a good idea. I do not have the patience or the artistic aptitude to do a good job dying yarn, and as a klutz who lives in a tiny apartment, it is unlikely that I could dye yarn safely. I should buy yarn that has been dyed by professionals, or at least by talented amateurs. But dying yarn sounds like so much fun. It sounds like the arts 'n' crafts projects that I loved so much in elementary school. I have fond memories of tie-dying all of my white t-shirts when I was in high school. Dying yarn has the same appeal.

2. I want to try knitting lace. This, too, is not a good idea. I don't wear lace. I am not patient. I am pretty sure that I would hate knitting lace. And yet it inexplicably appeals to me. Why is that? And should I give in to that impulse?

3. I want to knit an Aran sweater. Years ago, I bought an Aran sweater in Dublin. It was on super sale, because there was a dropped stitch in the sleeve. I don't know why it hasn't unravelled: I think it's been felted together because I wear it so often. Anyway, it is a truly hideous sweater. It has no waist shaping, and it's about four sizes too big. It's about as unflattering a garment as one could find. And yet I love it. It's super warm and cosy and I like to wear it in the dead of a Chicago winter. It occurred to me that if I knit my own Aran sweater, I could make one that actually fit me. It could have narrower shoulders and a little bit of waist shaping, and I could make it so that it wasn't designed to fit a man who was a foot taller and fifty pounds heavier than me. It would be awesome.

I think the reason for my sudden burst of ambition is that I am getting quite bored with my Central Park Hoodie. I decided not to carry the cable up the hood, which means that the hood calls for 11 inches of straight stockinette. That is a whole lot of stockinette. I should finish it tonight, and not a moment too soon. I'm pretty lazy, but the truth of the matter is that I don't like knitting that's quite that boring.