Shifting, Ever So Slowly, Towards Fall

We've reached August, fiber friends! 

It's sunny and 20°C here, which is absolutely perfect weather; warm enough for shorts but nowhere near the 'think of breathing and sweat' temps of a month ago. 

And that means knitting is happening on a much better schedule. Or what passes for a schedule here! 

The test/beta knit for the Four Hand Reel is coming along beautifully. Each tester has chosen such fantastic colors and a variety of fibers. They're all fantastic!

I've got the Countess Cathleen (cloak) back on active status after (finally) choosing the knotwork motif for the last/bottom section of the body. No more swatching for this one. I'm just following the charts now. It feels so good when a sample gets to this stage. Here's a photo I took not long before I paused to create/swatch knotworks:

I'm really happy with how it's going :) And I'm hoping to finish knitting it by the end of the month. I have an even bigger idea to get on the needles next! lol 

My mind has been stuck on cozy warmth ideas so once Countess Cathleen's sample is done, I have a large cabled wrap that I just got the charts done for, or a double-knit blanket (in 3 sizes, with cables!) that I can cast-on for my large sample project. One thing I've learned from my current double-knit swatch is I want a different yarn for the sample. Which is another large project! See what I mean about cozy warmth ideas?

I'm afraid I'm more than a bit off track right now with my personal project to work project ratio. So I've made a deal with myself to finish at least 2 of my personal projects before I start any new ones. We'll see how that goes!

I think I dove into too many larger things all at once and it's just bogged my head down. I have nothing small on the needles right now; in my personal projects there are: a cabled sweater (for me), a sweater with lace sections (for me), a large color and textured shawl/wrap, a cabled shawl, and the crocheted blanket (I work on this once a month as part of the challenge a group I belong to does). Plus two gifts for smaller individuals but with fairly decent stitch counts. I quite clearly was suffering from startitis late last year into this year. I may have to employ the old "grab a project bag in the morning and see how much you can get done on only that project for a day" method until I get everything sorted back out. 

What strategies do you use when your WIPs get a bit too out of hand? Any tips or tricks? Be sure to put them in the comments :)

I need to be signing off; supper hasn't yet gotten to the point where it makes itself... And I'd be more than a little creeped out if it did

Yours in yarn and a large WIP pile,

Síle