Negative net progress

I am on the thirtieth repeat for the centre panel of Print O' The Wave. Nearly there!

The 100 mm Addis were not so good for lace knitting: they're blunt-tipped, slippery, and the long cable got in the way. So I bought some bamboo dpn's and turned them into straights:


I switched to these in the middle of the centre panel, and I don't think there's a noticeable change in gauge, so I'll just cross my fingers and hope it blocks out alright. The funny thing is, the bamboos are better for this project in almost every way: they're pointier, they grip the cobweb-weight yarn much better, and they're short and easy to work with. However, it's nearly impossible for me to thread a lifeline through when the knitting's on the bamboo needles- the cord of the Addis is so useful for that. So I do the last row of every repeat on the Addis, just so I can thread the lifeline afterwards.

Although I've had nothing else but this on the needles since I finished the Cathay top last week, I have been busy thinking. Since I bought all that yarn a couple weeks ago, and since, um, I don't actually have a job enabling me to buy more random non-essential stuff, I'd decided no more yarn buying until I use up at least a sweater's worth of stash yarn. (As an out for me: sock yarn doesn't count, but I'm going to try not to buy more than I use.) However, using up stash yarn is kind of a problem at the moment, because I only have wool, mohair and alpaca yarns in sweater quantities. Not spring/summer friendly.

So the yarn diet, combined with a recent Knittyboard thread about how unhappy some people are about their finished objects made me think about and go through some of my finished stuff. Among the countless scarves and hats, and recently, socks, I've also knit, oh, six or seven sweaters. Among them are these:

• The first was a disaster. Ah, the joys of yarn substitution.
  
• I was proud of myself on the second and wore it a few times before I came to my senses and realized it's not for me, so it's been frogged.
  
• The mohair cardigan based on Knitty's Candy, but, uh, without all the interesting bits. So a raglan cardigan, basically. Although I like it well enough, and I wore it half a dozen times last winter, the fit and shaping could be better, and the only reason it hasn't been frogged is that it's mohair, and I need my sanity in case I have job interviews.
  
• A seamless yoke raglan knit in alpaca. I actually wore this for quite a bit before I decided that the yoke decreases looked messy and that the yarn would look much better knitted on smaller needles. That's been frogged.
• An Hourglass Sweater from Joelle Hoverson's Last Minute Knitted Gifts. I made lots of modifications to the pattern, and I'm actually quite happy with it. It could be better, though. I think this will get to live. For now.

Before the Cathay top, my last attempt at a cap-sleeved tee was this:


I tried to copy the shaping of a favourite t-shirt. It was an okay attempt, and the result looked pretty good when worn. Made from Rowan's Calmer, the top was knit to the same dimensions as the green t-shirt, but has grown considerably since, and now looks quite loose on. Plus, my tension on this stretchy, stretchy yarn was all over the place, and all I could see when I looked at it lately were the rows and rows of uneven stitches.


So, given the yarn diet and my stash's lack of spring/summer appropriate yarns, the top has been turned into this:


This will become some kind of summer tee. Close fitting but not figure hugging tight. I can't decide what kind of sleeves and neckline it will have, though.

My, I've been wordy lately, haven't I?