Long Dry Spell

I think this may be the longest I've ever gone without an FO. By my reckoning, it's been...a long time since my last successful project. There was the Retro Ribby Shrug, which turned out to be a disaster--but only after I seamed it all (twice). Before that was the Dickinson Pullover (otherwise known as Death By Cables), which is currently hibernating. Before that was Juliette--also known as "the ugliest project I've ever made." Well, to be fair, the final product wasn't Juliette at all, because I had unresolvable gauge issues with Juliette that led to multiple froggings and the eventual (bad) decision to just wing it and come up with something interesting--in the car, driving home from Lake Tahoe, on windy, icy, mountain roads, with two kids bickering in the backseat. And interesting it is, just not in a wearable sort of way. All that Rowan Soft Tweed is still awaiting frogging in its quiet place behind the sofa. If you don't count socks (and I've only even completed one of those), or the Messenger Bag, or the baby blanket (and I don't count either of those because you can't wear them, and anyway, they were both gifts), my last finished project was the Central Park Hoodie waaaaay back in February! It's May! How did this happen? (Yes, I know I just explained how it happened. The question is rhetorical and intended to emphasize my astonishment.)

I could blame the spinning, I suppose. But that wouldn't be fair; I've only spun a few skeins of yarn in all that time, and spinning just doesn't take that long. Not nearly as long as, say, blogging. Or reading blogs. Or the great time-suck that is Ravelry (oh, how I love Ravelry!). I suspect I would be completing a lot more if I weren't enjoying following other people's progress quite so much.

But there is progress here. Thanks to the excellent advice from the comments--and also to some of you bravely throwing yourselves in the path of the Knitting Goddess (I appreciate that, by the way)--I ripped back and immediately re-knitted the front of Sligo to create an actual, you know...front. And here it is, complete with the already-finished back:


I even have several inches of one sleeve done, so barring any disasters--running out of yarn, breaking needles, a sudden moth infestation--there is some chance of a successful FO in my immediate future.

And just in case you didn't believe me about the stuff I find in the dryer, here's this week's haul:

No burritos or melted crayons, but check out that wicked looking pocket knife! (The marker, according to house rules, is washable.)