Trying to finish

I have lots of projects on the needles.  Some have been on the needles for a very long time.  Some have been put away in my closet for one reason or another.  They might be boring, they might be headache inducing (I have found some yarns give me headaches if I work with them too long), they might be put away because I don't like how they are looking or the yarn isn't right or, or, or.  Sometimes I just start things because they look interesting, then I lose that interest.

Today I picked up a project that I started in January of 2007.  Yes, four years ago.  I have worked on it off and on in the past four years, but invariably, it ends up put away again.  I took it out again today and then looked at Ravelry to see how other knitters had done this pattern.  I still love the finished design.  I think my main problem with this pattern is I'm at the stage where knitting one row takes the better part of half an hour.  There are a lot of stitches on the needles.  Hundreds, even.  And, the yarn is really more like thread.  It's really fine.  It's easy when there are just a few stitches on the needles, but when there are hundreds and you have to watch and count carefully, it's not quite as much fun.  That being said, I have determined I AM GOING TO FINISH!!!  So there, I have put it in writing.  Now I have to finish it.

If you are wondering what pattern I am working on, it is the Icarus shawl from Interweave Knits Summer 2006 issue.  I fell in love with this shawl the first time I saw it.  I still love it; I just need to finish it.  Here is a really poor photo of how it looks today.  I have also taken a photo of the poor mangled chart that I have been working off of.  You can see it's been abused for quite a while.  There is still one more chart, too, that I have not scanned yet.  I am still knitting on chart 1.  So wish me luck with finishing this project.