To finish or not to finish?

I've got a lot in the hopper right now. I'm trying to finish up a bunch of projects, kind of cleanse the palate. This goes for work, too. Keeping up, clearing off, moving on: that's my ever-moving target.

The hardest thing for me to do is to know when to say when, when to say no. To a knitting project, a friend's favor, a job opportunity. I tend to try to do everything, to fit it all in, to see the plenty, the abundance. For the most part this suits me well.

Take these Muscari socks, for instance. I started them in great zeal last summer and really zoomed along. Then, somehow, when I got to the second heel, I couldn't find the notes I'd made on my modifications. My gauge was nowhere near the 10 sts per inch called for in the pattern, so I had to rework the directions for the short-row heel. Not a big deal, but enough to keep me from picking up sock two. So they've languished in the basket, while many other small and not-so-small projects have been finished (and started).

I like these socks. They're fun. They're colorful. (The yarn, FYI, is KnitPicks Felici, Coney Island colorway.) They will make me smile. I should finish them. I will. They might not be the first thing finished, but it will happen eventually. There is room in my life (and my sock drawer) for these stripey bits of sunshine; the problem is technical, not fundamental.


The ugly hated sweater, though, is a harder nut to crack.

On the one hand, it's done. It's wearable. It's warm. I spent $75 and a few months making it.

But, unlike the Muscaris, this one I really need to frog. I would rather start over than look at it every time I open my closet. It was an AFGO; another f-ing growth opportunity. I now know much more about what style suits me, and what doesn't; to trust my gut about a project's relative worth and fit; to measure myself more accurately. (Although, the measurement is still right. I think it's just the proportions of my body that I didn't take into account, and the fact that I like a bit of negative ease.)

I have some leftover yarn that I can use for swatching while I try to decide on another project. I was thinking Pam Allen's Counterpane Pullover. I'm really taken by the construction of this pullover, I think it would suit my body, and it's knit in a bulky yarn.

What I don't know is whether an alpaca/wool blend like Pastaza is appropriate. Anyone care to chime in?