I keep saying I'm really close to finishing things. This time I swear it's true. Probably. Here's a picture for proof:

I know I'm close to being done, it's just a question of when I'll find the time to actually finish it. That picture is of the finished front of the sweater, and the work-in-progress back. I only have a few inches left, which shouldn't take long at all. (I have season 2 of New Girl to catch up on, so by multitasking with that, it'll get done in no time.) Then I need to make the sleeves, which are about one third the size of the front piece.

I'm still working on the fingerless gloves. The trouble is that I keep ripping out what I've got and starting over. It's really tough to work with double pointed needles, especially when you've got four of them in your hands at once. I think what's mainly tripping me up is the ribbing and the fact that I have to switch from knitting to purling and back every two stitches. I'm used to working pretty quickly on regular needles, so probably if I just slow down and take my time with the double-pointed ones I won't make as many mistakes.

I thought I'd take a walk down memory lane and look at the second knitting project I ever did. They were fingerless gloves, except instead of using DPNs, it was knit flat and then sewn together.

Don't ask how I took that picture without the use of my hands. Anyway, Do you see the rows that stick up from the regular knitting? That happened because when I first started, I didn't know which side of the work was the "wrong side" and which was the "right side". Wrong and right refer to which side is supposed to face out when you're wearing it. I knew I was supposed to purl on the wrong side, and knit on the right. The only way to keep track of that without counting each row, though, was to be able to recognize the difference between the sides. Now I can do that! It's ridiculously easy, actually, but at the time it was a concept that went way over my head. Another issue with these gloves is that the one on the right is bigger than the other. Also (although you can't see this in the picture), the garter stitch at the bottom doesn't go all the way around for one of them. 

But I'm glad I can recognize my own mistakes! It means I'm learning, which is great. I'm really excited to get these two projects finished (which will probably happen over spring break), and start practicing for my TED Talk!

Readings:
Knitting Over the Edge, a pattern book filled with cool ideas for making borders on your projects.
This, to figure out how to knit in the round.
The Complete Idiot's Guide to Knitting, whose title doesn't describe me at all and which I used to understanding both knitting in the round and cabling a little more.