Is it too early to be nesting?

So I've been thinking. And cleaning. Those two things are things I generally prefer NOT to do in great quantities, but hey. I've been thinking a lot about what to clean next, what to pack up, what we can do without for a few months, etc. And I've also been looking at my blog. Specifically, at that list of WIPs over on the sidebar there. The other day, I was randomly thinking about some strange conglomeration of things, when I remembered one of the members of my blogroll likes to start the year fresh, with respect to projects. (I can't remember if it's Jared or Dave Daniels, or both.) The idea is to finish up what's on the needles and rip what isn't finished, IIRC. When I first read that a year or two ago, I believe my reaction was somewhere along the lines of "that's nucking futs." This year, though, the idea is growing on me. I mean REALLY. Look at that list.
Votive sleeves: I have 2 1/2 left, and I want to finish them for Christmas. Assuming I can still find the wire, that should be eminently doable.
Monkey socks: I have the better part of one done.
Gust: still in the early stages
Lace: I still have doubts about this one - it's a secret project and I don't love it. I'd be avoiding it simply because I don't want to face the inevitability that it needs ripping.
Charade socks: one down, one to go
Slippin' Slidin' Socks: not on the list. Early on, could probably rip without much anguish if I needed to. I think I have, maybe, an inch of cuff done.
Garden lattice socks: need to rip back half of the one finished sock, so if I ripped the whole thing I prolly wouldn't cry.
Faina: I struggled with the charts. I still love the pattern, and I'm much better at reading charts (and lace, for that matter) now. Maybe it's time to let Faina out again.
Sonnet: Going to rip it. No question.
Haiku: needs to have the sleeves and buttons sewn. C'mon, yo, leaving it like that is almost sinful. Finish that dude.

What I have is, at most, two lacy scarves, six socks, 2.5 tiny candle holders, and finishing up a baby sweater. In the writing of this post, I've already decided the secret lace needs to go. (I have this feeling that there are other things, but if they've been UFOs so long that I can't remember them, they're getting ripped.) I also have the better part of four months. Really, that should be doable.
Even if I throw in Linden, I still think it's doable. It starts to get a little dicey when I think of knitting lace shawls for my aunts for Christmas, but I was still batting that idea around and I hadn't settled on it yet. I obviously am not going to finish my summer knitting goals, but hey, at least I got a little mojo back. I think I might be talking myself into this idea of finishing up the year's (and last year's) projects before moving on into '09. Do I sound like an annoying go-getter? Do we hate me yet?

Playing catch-up

I didn't knit a stitch on Wednesday. Thursday was an epic scene of cooking and cleaning. The DH had a low-blood-sugar episode and had to eat and lay down for a bit, leaving me to finish dinner and the cleaning. (He did vacuum the living room, even under the furniture, before he nearly keeled over, and he made the gravy after he felt better.) I managed a few rows of knitting after the guests were gone, but mostly my hands were stiff and aching. (I know, wah wah, I had to make too much food and have too much fun. Poor me, right?)
Yesterday and this morning, though, I made up for lost time.



Fourth votive done, four more to go.

Juno Regina is chugging along.



It doesn't look like it, but that's 14 inches of eyelet. Seven more to go before I can put it on a holder and make a whole new one. I'm getting there.
Of course, it turned from summer to winter in one day. (Thursday was about 80-some degrees, and today it's cold and windy.) I need my eyelet cardigan!

Another one!

Yahoo! Yesterday I just couldn't stop knitting. The weather was lovely and cool, and our visitors and DH took off early for Phoenix to watch the NASCAR races. (SNORE) The Bug and I played in the yard all day, and I brought my knitting out while he dug in the mud and rolled in the dirt and all those things that little boys do when they're free to get dirty. (At one point, Greta was laying on the deck, and he sat down next to her, petted her ears for a minute, then lay himself down next to her for a snuggle. TOTALLY cute. Must remember to bring the camera outside more often.)

I powered through the pain and finished a second votive sleeve! Here it is, pictured with the first one I finished.



You can't see the silver beads on there very well, but they sparkle in the most lovely way in person.

There was a casualty, though:



My poor, cracked, sore fingers. It got to where the cashmere I'm using for MIL's Juno Regina (which is coming out beautifully) was hurting. Sigh. More cashmere therapy tonight, though really I just want to knit beaded wire.

I had a little Bug photo shoot last night. (He is fascinated by pictures of himself.)







Ugh. Mama gotta remember to put makeup on if she's going to be taking pictures of herself.

FOs abound

Okay, maybe "abound" is a bit of an overstatement, but I'm still on the happiness high from Thursday.

I finally finished Devan, and I LURVE it.





Specs:
Devan from knitty, newborn size.
MCY yarn (from ebay) fingering weight in Santa Fe gold, roughly 280 yds
Lanett fingering superwash, navy blue (I don't remember if that's the actual name but I lost the ball band), most of 1 skein.

I love the Lanett - it's slightly thicker and much squooshier than the MCY. I was a little disappointed in the MCY. It was thin and, although it was soft, it wasn't squooshy at all. It made a decently nice fabric, and since the sweater is going to be outgrown before long, I'm not worried about the thinness. This is southern Arizona after all. It also bled like it wanted to be white again. I rinsed and rinsed and rinsed and rinsed and I'm still not entirely convinced I got it all. Blech.

Another FO: I finished my first votive sleeve! I lovelovelove the way this looks. I'm about a quarter of the way through another one (I want to make eight before Christmas) but, even though the second one was going quickly, I had to stop. The wire and straight needles are conspiring to chew up my already-peeling fingers. Still, I LOVE them.



I had a photo with much better lighting, but I forgot to use the macro setting on the camera. The beads sparkled in lovely blurriness, while you could see every tiny defect in the paint on my kitchen wall. Not quite what I was hoping for.

ANYWAY, I have restarted the MIL's stole - I think I'm going to do Juno Regina from knitty now. It's not as intricate as Cheshire Lace, and I don't think it will be quite as pretty in the solid yarn I have, but I think it will be easier for me to finish once I get past the charts at the ends. I'll have a better chance of finishing it before Christmas if I don't have to carry a chart with me.

And now, the Bug says it's time to go outside.