Wanted: Escape from project boredom

My current project, yet another scarf, has dragged on for a little more than a month.
The pattern I'm using: http://www.madisonknittersguild.org/p_faux_lace_scarf_lc.html
Don't let the perfect example lull you into easy-pattern land--the thing is bloody irritating! Well, only if you're a perfectionist. The X design comes out a little loose for me and two extra stitches have appeared in my row (which isn't exactly noticeable as far as the Xes are concerned). I'm using Size 11 needles and a natural-fiber yarn (exact details later).
I had planned to gift it but now I'm not sure if the recipient would like it. On top of that, I'm itching to get started on more complex patterns!


Knitting and the World: According to the 'experts', knitting is a trend that comes and goes and is occasionally pronounced dead only to spring back to life at the fingers of creative folk. Fashion, a not much removed cousin of the Fad, is also cyclical and it just so happens that the time is right yet again for bulky knits. While as an enthusiastic knitter I appreciate that cables and argyle patterns are in the mainstream, it also angers me. Who's to say what's fashionable and what's isn't? More importantly, it's about consumerism. Many people still view knitting with a kind of childlike wonder--whenever I KIP (knit in public) I'm often treated like a prehistoric animal in a cage. Fashion-conscious people are buying cable-embellished cardigans and T-shirts with argyle print (which is an atrocity in itself) without really knowing what it all represents, how it's made, etc. And really, what's with the miniscule cables? The whole point of the cable is to embellish, to make a statement, to be noticed! In my kitschy opinion, machine made knits, especially with cables, don't look right. They don't 'pop' like they should and tend to blend into the background, giving the garment a very cheap look that a handmade one does not have. Here we come to another part of consumerism: the price of handmade garments. Many knitters, myself included, get inspiration from the collections of high-end designers becuase we a) can't afford their overpriced duds b) don't want to possible support a cheap-labor company and/or c) know that we can alter a few things about the piece, make it, and have it come out better than the original.

There, my first kvetch session! Feels bloody good.