Isn’t this beautiful? Dream in Colors gorgeous colors, and a bit of silver sparkle spun into the Smooshy yarn base to make it pop. This is their new yarn base called Starry. (And I knew that my hubby’s photo would turn out much better than my attempts.) We plan to have this up at The Loopy Ewe early next week. I know these would be beautiful as socks, but I think we’ll also see a lot of shawls and scarves and hats and gloves and mitts knit up in this, too. (Why hide it in your shoes?) I will confess to having cast on a cowl. FPS*. I am having a serious problem with casting on. In Wednesday’s post I referred to my newly-discovered (newly-admitted?) KADD. I don’t have ADD (Attention Deficit Disorder) but I definitely have KADD (Knitting Attention Deficit Disorder.) My number of WIP’s is ridiculous and it doesn’t seem to matter how many I have on my list – it just keeps growing. I do have a lot of single socks, but lately, the thing I keep casting on is scarves. One right after the other. I AM finishing some of them. I had to – they’re for Christmas gifts. But there are still too many mid-stream that get set aside for the next sparkly fun interesting exciting pattern or yarn that comes along and intrigues me momentarily. It really is fun to make scarves and mitts and hats out of “sock yarn”. And it’s a good way to keep motoring through my stash. (But I don’t think it counts as “using it up” when it sits there as a half-done WIP. sigh.) This weekend I’m spending some time organizing the stash. I hope I come out alive.
Today’s recipe is one that Elf Karen shared with us and then I made some changes to it. (I don’t change knitting patterns all too often, but I seem to change recipes when I make them.) It’s delicious and perfect for a cool winter evening.
Chicken and Mushroom Soup (or leftover turkey?)
6 cups water
2 quartered onions
2 bay leaves
1/4 cup chopped parsley
1/4 cup chopped celery leaves
5 chicken breasts
Cook the chicken breasts in the above mixture until tender. Remove the chicken and chop into bite-sized pieces. Strain the rest of the mixture and reserve the liquid.
2 cups diced celery
2 cups diced onions
1 lb. sliced mushrooms
1/2 cup butter
5 cups fresh white bread, cubed
Saute the onions, celery and mushrooms in butter until soft. (Do not brown.) Remove from pan and then add in the bread crumbs. (You may need to add more butter.) Stir until well coated and toasty and remove from heat.
2 tsp. sage
2 tsp. pepper
2 tsp. poultry seasoning
6 Tbl. chicken stock base
5 cups evaporated milk
3 Tbl. flour
Add sage, pepper, poultry seasoning, chicken stock base, and evaporated milk to a large pot. Stir to heat through. Whisk in flour as needed, to thicken slightly. Add reserved liquid from above, as well as the onion/celery mix and the chicken pieces. Heat through. Just before serving, add bread crumbs and parsley (if desired) to each bowl.
Before I close, here’s the question for you to answer for the November Blog Contest. I’ll randomly select one person from the comments section, next Friday. So you have a week to leave your comment/entry. I know that there are many of you who, like me, have KADD. I see your orders. I peek at your Ravelry projects pages, I read your comments on Wednesday’ blog. I just know these things. For me, the thing that seems to entice me to start something new is either 1) a new yarn that I am itching to try or 2) a new pattern that intrigues me. If you have KADD, what is it that gets you picking up another set of needles and beginning something new? (And if you don’t have KADD, just go ahead and admit it. That will get you an entry into the contest, too. Any tips on how to avoid KADD? Don’t say “discipline”….)
Sheri 2or3projectsgoingatonceseemsreasonable
12ormoredoesnot.Ohwell.
*FPS = For Pete’s Sake
Personally, I love the thrill of uniting the perfect yarn with the perfect pattern. I really don’t do much to avoid KADD…When I get a new yarn, I love to look through the projects on Ravelry and find the best ones, which gives me ideas of what to cast on next.
It’s always the new patterns that get me casting on yet another project! And if what I’m working on is boring, it gets set aside for a new exciting pattern. I can have new yarn just sitting there, with no pattern, and it doesn’t get touched. Okay, well maybe it gets petted a bit, but until I find a pattern it doesn’t get knit!
Ravelry gives me serious KADD. I need to stop looking at the new patterns every day, LOL, they make me want to pick up something new to knit all the time!
I have ridiculous case of KADD. Despite the fact that I have 2 sweaters, 2 shawls, 1 pair of gloves and 2 pairs of mittens started, this weekend I seemed to have believed that starting a gigantic moebius, another pair of mitts and a cowl was a good idea.
Now I’m plotting plans for the DIC Starry. Cause there isn’t enough knitting to do!
How to avoid KADD? I’m not sure. I know what works for me is to be overwhelmed enough with my current projects that even casting on for a new, smaller one doesn’t even excite me. Not exactly the best way to motivate yourself, I guess.
Another way would be to avoid Ravelry for a few days. The minute I log in there, I’m online for hours, and it is very difficult to knit and surf the internet at the same time.
Luckily, I don’t seem to have KADD. I do have a few projects that are on hold for various reasons, but other than that, I usually finish things within a few months of casting on. I do have itchy fingers to cast something on when I’ve just finished something else – I’ve got to have something going at all times 🙂
I have serious KADD. Better know as startitis, or finishus interuptus, I start projects left and and right, back and forth, to and fro. I get so excited about a new pattern that I just have to grab the needles, some yarn and begin, just to see how the new pattern is going to unfold. Once my excitement abates, I either fall back on an existing project or move on to a new one. I’m shameless, I tell you, shameless. Projects lie around the house, taunting me to finish them before starting something else. I wish I could practice project fidelity, but it just isn’t possible. Alas, such is the life of an obsesses knitter.
I have KADD bad! I don’t have the patience to knit a sweater ( I have 3 WIP’s), I can’ t seem to finish a Pair of socks (I have 3 WIp’s). Lace shawls?-Two WIP’s. I even have 2 baby items that need to be finished before the babies come!
Now, if I have a deadline such as a gift, then I’m normally good with that. I like instant gratification projects. I can complete a hat in just a few hours. A cowl? Give me a good movie, a cup of tea, and some yarn and needles.
Maybe 2009 should be only finish WIP’s until a starting a new project? Yeah, that would last until I see a new pattern or yarn that is a must have! 🙂
My KADD comes and goes, really. Sometimes (like now) I want to cast on a million different projects. Most of it is because the new IK Winter is out, the new Knotions, the new Twist Collective, and soon the new Popknits – so many new patterns!! And I seem to be lacking in the woolly accessory department right now, not good when the temperature drops below freezing!
But my KADD also seems to hit when I have absolutely no time to knit (like now, with extra work, school and exam projects). It’s like I fantasize about all these things I could knit instead of doing boring homework, and it makes my fingers itch to cast on something new and gorgeous. Except I never knit more than a repeat or two, then I have to work like mad in school because I got behind due to the knitting, and then a week later I want to cast on something new. 😉
It also hits me if one of my current projects isn’t moving at the pace I’d like it to (also because of no knitting time) and I need some instant project gratification. Except, like mentioned above, I rarely get more than halfway in before I have to turn my attention elsewhere. It’s neverending…!
But that Starry sure is gorgeous. That would make an amazing set of long arm/hand warmers (sorely needed – much computer typing!) or a lovely cowl/scarf/small shawl. Mmmm, the possibilities…!!!
What sparks KADD? New yarn. New patterns. New friends or babies or pregnancies. Boredom with the current project (especially if it has a gazillion rounds of stockinette). Sometimes cleaning house, and finding a stray ball of stash, is sufficient.
The one thing I have found to keep KADD at bay was my wedding. 🙂 It is amazing how the need to have a shawl done by a specific, immovable date will keep me on task. For the regular day to day knitting, though…. Well, let’s just say I’m pretty hopeless.
What gets my KADD going? Uhm.. everything. A shiny new skein of yarn, seeing someone else’s finished product, getting slightly bored with whatever is on the needles currently. There’s no telling. I’m trying to get better about it.
New, beautiful yarn entices me to cast on a new project before completing an existing one, also the news of a new great granddaughter on the way.
The best way to avoid KADD is to not have any stash…like that’s going to happen.
I used to be enticed by patterns, back in the day when I bought my yarn at the local big box. Now that I buy “nice” yarn, I am totally enticed by the yarn. Currently I have projects going on: 1. wool 2. silk/wool blend 3 cashmere 4. alpaca.
See what I mean? It’s all about the yarn. But then, at least it’s not about the drugs or the alcohol, right? It’s a safer, healthier addiction, right?
Tell that to my credit card please….
I think I’m KADD personified. What gets me going? A pattern that sparks my imagination. A yarn — color, texture (e.g. alpaca or silk/mohair, or…). If I’m midway through a project and my interest has waned, I’m most vulnerable to KADD. Somehow I manage to finish projects, but I usually have 4-6 projects going at once. At least I’ll ADMIT to having at least 4-6 projects….
beautiful yarn…
Or my own severe case of KADD… I have so many started projects… 🙂 Oh well, I’ll get them all done one day…
My KADD is definitely triggered by enticing projects. Ravelry has magnified this 10 fold! There are so many beautiful projects that I want to start…and at any one time I have at least 3-5 projects on my needles. I think if I could I would knit 24/7. 🙂
For me it could be seeing a new pattern online (whether someone has knit an example or just shown the pattern), ordering patterns and yarn, wanting to try a new skein of yarn I received, boredom of what I am currently working on, not feeling like finishing something because I’m in the mood to knit something else…there are many reasons why; those I’ve listed are just a few!
Honestly? Really honestly?
Boredom.
I get to a certain point in a pattern and I have seen how the yarn knits up and I know where the pattern is going and I start to lose interest and want to move on to a “new” new thing!
The good thing about KADD is that when you really want to knit on a different project but can’t find the energy to start a new one or wind the yarn or whatever, you have a lovely selection of interesting things just waiting for you to return to them!
Yes, I suffer from KADD. New yarn can trigger the desire to start a new project, and an intriguing pattern even more so. Put both together…like a new knitspot pattern and, say, a skein of Dream in Color’s new Starry — I’m in trouble!
Today I have been diagnosed with a PhD in KADD (that’s the Projects Half Done strain of KADD). Ack! Pretty much it is new pretties that get me going on new projects – this was a problem in quilting too, so at least my yarn yens make me consistent. And to prove my oint, I really would like to know what the new yarn/pattern is of that scarf you showed on Friday. Pretty please?
LOL, I love the KADD and have suffered from it since my return from Stitches East a few weeks ago. I want to knit everything all at once!
Why was I online this morning for the Sneak-Up? Why did I HAVE to buy 6 skeins of Starry + 2 of Hand Maiden + 2 patterns + another Addi Lace circ? I guess to add to my 198-skein stash. And, then when I get my box in a few days, I’ll have to cast-on another project to add to the ten I already have OTN.
Do you think I have a problem?????????????
And, BTW, I have a whole closet full of Quilt fabric which was my obsession BEFORE I re-discovered knitting 3 years ago!
Well, I have it and I don’t. In part I blame my two year old, who prevents me from knitting most of the time. And when I do have a chance, it’s very brief, so I am wary of complicated patterns.
And yet I love the more complicated patterns. So I start and stop and start and stop and have varying projects for varying degrees of time and concentration available.
If in doubt I wind yarn and look at lovely patterns…. Or “window shop” via internet.
For me it’s the pattern that sets me rummaging through stash, stripping needles out of other projects (yes, really!) because I just have to try this intriguing pattern right this minute to see if I can do it. It does mean I’m never bored for if one project is taking too long I have what? 2 dozen others? I could pick up and play with. Too bad they don’t all fit on the end of the sofa, only about 8 projects can live there and leave room for me.
Elly in Nova Scotia
I would say I have a chronic case of KADD. It is sometimes inspired by yarn (or by an idea from a new yarn that would work in a yarn I already have). Sometimes it is a new pattern or pattern idea – in a magazine or book or seen on someone somewhere. And sometimes there is the ancillary condition known as KAGNS = Knitting Attention to Gifts Needed Syndrome. Sudden onset occurs when I realize there is a gift occasion coming up, and there is something I could make that would be perfect. Of course, that would mean coming up with idea+yarn+pattern+time and then getting the knitting and finishing done. And finally there is the related condition KANSWS = Knitting Attention to Something to Wear Syndrome. I am having a bad case of that right now. A holiday party on Dec. 6, something fancy needed, lots of ideas, not enough design time and nowhere near enough knitting time.
My KADD is driven mainly by my spinning. When I finish making a yarn I immediately want to knit it up, which means that my existing commercial yarn projects go on hold. I’m being really good atm, I only have 2 projects on the go, but I’m itching to cast on another pair of socks with some hand-dyed yarn I recently got in a yarn swap!
I have KADD along with SSS (second sock syndrome) which makes me pretty much incurable….love the new yarns!
My stash is magnificent after finding the Loopy Ewe!!! The projects off the needles are too. Now, to attack my KADD and get the remaining needles free for more stashbusting!!! We Love You Man! er, Sheri! ♥
~Anne
Oh My Goodness, WIP’s….Yes New patterns always seem to get me!!! New yarns are the reason in second place. To date, I think there are 5 pairs-Yes pairs- OTN’s 2 shawls, and 3 caps!!!? Do you think that is too many?? Not me… been looking at another beautiful shawl pattern; then another sock pattern.
The only saving grace is the socks will never be victim to SSS… doing two at once is the answer to THAT problem.
KADD, yes — I think that I may qualify.
Liz
New yarn, definitely. It looks me right in the eye and says “Turn me into socks,” or “Make a hat with me,” or “I want to be a sweater,” and I am helpless to resist!
I always have several projects on the needles. I prefer to think of it as keeping the brain cells active. MY version of crossword puzzles to keep your brain active. I have to have a mindless knitting project, then several that are small and portable(socks), and one that takes some concentration. Right now I am gathering projects for a long car trip at Thanksgiving. The other thing I like about several WIPs: when I finish up several in a row it seems like Christmas! And then that frees up a set of needles for another new project!
New yarn tempts me, esp. after looking at Ravelry. And this blog gets me thinking too. I am always thinking about what i want to do next and designing it in my head. Eventually it suddenly comes to me exactly what i should do & I either start something new or go back and finish what I was stuck on=UFO.
I definitly have KADD, I have at least 6 items started, socks, shawls mittens hats and you name it. I DO finish most things, especially when I have a time limit. Have been knitting since I was about 4 years old, and I hate to tell you how long ago that was, but when I started it was before WW2. The things that get me started are seeing finished projects in stores or in Yarn Shops that are up for people to see as samples. Also yarn booklets. Thanks for this site, I am new to it and think it sounds great.
I try to have only one or two wips, so when I got Noro silk garden in the mail, and couldnt keep from casting on, I could, without feeling bad 😉
Which KADD type do I have? That is easy. It is the pattern thing! I do have stash but I almost never work from it. I find a pattern that I love and then need to go buy the yarn. I very rarely know what yarn I want before I go shopping. I go with a weight in mind and start looking. I am not courageous enough (yet!) to play with gauge. If the pattern calls for a certain weight of yarn, that is what I am looking for.
Marie
(who just found another storage container full of yarn that she forgot she had!)
Currently, I have 2 pair of socks, (one is sock #2, one is sock #1) and a sweater for NEXT spring/summer.
I also have a baby hat, and will have a baby blanket up and on needles—but they have definite due dates (no pun intended)!
How do I keep it down? I have to. I am a broke college student and I have to work from stash in order to stick to budget. 🙂
For me it’s any new pattern that’s a little different than the rest. I totally fell down when knotions.com winter issue came out. I’m crazy about four of those projects and the new Interweave Knits has several good patterns, and the Knit One coming out next month looks great and…
My KADD is also my ADD…it is jump-started by the arrival of a beautiful new yarn from the Loopy Ewe, or by a pretty new pattern, or by a friend who says something so nice about my knitting that I can’t help but want to make something for them, or by the gifts that still need knitting for Christmas…
I always have seven or eight projects sitting around somewhere, and lots more hiding in the closet. There is no end of knitting to be had at my house!
I have KADD and I’m not ashamed. It’s all part of the creative personality. (that’s my excuse and i’m stickin’ to it) Yarn is the biggest culprit. Nothing is so inspirational as yarn. I get a new yarn in the mail (Thanks!) and immediatly look on Ravelry to see what others have done with it. Boredom is sometimes the culprit. I need a few small projects going at the same time as big project. Plus the typical various types of projects for the various knitting venues.
At the current time I think I have about 10 UFOs so I guess I have KADD. Right now, I’m spinning some fiber and plan to cast on a scarf with one and a shawl with the other one. So, that means 12 UFOs in progress.
Sometimes it’s the yarn, and sometimes it’s the pattern. I also get involved in the KALs and cast on projects which are usually finished long after the KAL has completed.
When I shop, I don’t usually have a specific yarn or pattern in mind. This means I end up enhancing my stash immeasurably. Right now, the craft room is more of a storage room with all the bins of fiber and yarn along with the full bookshelf of wonderful pattern and reference books.
Yep, definitely KADD here.
IRL, I suspect I have ADD. So in my knitting, I try very hard not to have KADD. I get tired of a project not finishing quick enough. Usually, I still love the project, just not the time.
At Ravelry, quite a few projects are listed as “in progress” but they are finished. I’m just to lazy to take pictures.
My name is Margie and I have KADD. (Hanging head)
WAIT! I am proud to have KADD. Someone has to keep the economy going.
Oh, yes, I have KADD. What better distraction from the tree skirt that will never be finished in time for Christmas than casting on…something new? aka a Clapotis (my first, can you believe it?) in Dream in Color Classy (November Muse). Then there are the 357 different sock patterns in my queue on Ravelry (mairwen). Well, maybe not quite that many…but close. Why do I love both multicolored sock yarns and complex cable-patterned socks? They don’t go together. So I have been forced (forced!) to buy more solids and semi-solids. Poor me. The Stash may eat me before Christmas. Better cast on something else, to keep the Stash at bay…
No KADD here, at least not right now…I’m working on the first draft of a novel so my current knitting is limited to two projects, at least till November is over: an in-the-round sweater in plain stockinette for me and socks for a friend. And my spinning wheel is really beginning to cry with loneliness!
I too have KADD (or startitis). I think is because:
1. I have a need for more woolly socks this time of year.
2. I have begun to knit sweaters with a passion (Not Finish yet, just start)
3. See things that I think other (non-crafty) people would like!
4. My son grows out of hats and gloves (or loses)
5. My daughter is too cute not to have knitterly goods on her at all times
6. I am teaching friends to knit, so I have KALs with them.
7. Found a site about knitting Helmet Liners for troops. (Must cast-on over the Thanksgiving break)
It’s almost always a new pattern that gets me. I’ll be happily knitting along and then . . . what’s that? . . . that’s pretty . . . I want to make that . . . I HAVE to make that . . . I really ought to finish this other project first . . . but the new one won’t take very long, so maybe I can go ahead and start it now . . . yes, I really ought to start it now, just so I don’t forget about it . . . and on and on it goes.
Two things entice me to start something new — gorgeous new yarn and working on something I’m not very interested in, like the second sock of a pair for someone else whose color taste differs from mine . . .
There are just too many awesome patterns, both in my head and out. But really, what gets me on WIPS is that I get to a part I don’t want to do, like weaving in ends, or I mess up with a captial MESS and am too mad at it to rip back 20 rows and fix it.
I have at 10 WIPs that I have knit on in the last month. One is a beautiful tiny shawl from a Nancy Bush class that needs the ends weaved in and a strap knitted and attached so I can wear it on my head. But there are like 10 ends to weave in on a piece that is less than a foot square. I have a wrap that ended up uneven because I fudged the numbers so much. I am already on my second attempt at this dratted thing on size 4 needles. Others I just got distracted and forgot about. Though I am almost done with a cardigan on size 10 needles.
KADD? Yeah, I qualify. Usually for me it is an idea to make something for my family. Or one of my family members requests an item (my 18 yo dd wants me to make her felted mittens as of this weekend).
I’m probably small potatoes compared to a lot of you. I currently have 4 projects in the works. But that is enough to keep me in a tailspin. I plan to take 2 or 3 of them along on a long car trip next week
But how do I get all the projects done for Christmas?
Yes, I have KADD. It’s a combination of yarn, (oh so much) and the patterns that keep coming together in my brain. I never really follow an existing pattern or the ones I create with “Sweater Wizard” , I see the pattern and disect it and put it back together in a variety of ways. Then I want to try to make it real on my sticks. Too many ideas and not enough time to knit them all!
Generally it’s a feeling of frustration with what I’m currently knitting. I had a raging case of startitis a couple of weeks ago that sprouted several new things, some of which have already been finished! The feeling of knitting something that isn’t my 4th pair of Monkeys this year? That’ll work. Or the pleasure of having just one thing on the needles that’s for ME! Or seeing a sexy new pattern that would be perfect for something in my stash… Basically I have no willpower.
I don’t have any helpful tips. Occasionally I get inverse startitis and spend weeks doing nothing but finishing. That is fun, but then I get to only having projects that require thinking and cast on for 4-5 mindless numbers. Rinse and repeat!