Need some restraint

I finished my swap socks last night. Hurray! I won't be mailing them off until tomorrow or so, because I decided to wash and block them and they still aren't quite dry.

I really, really, really want to start a new project. And y'all, I am not that kind of knitter. Not that there's anything wrong with having five or ten things on the needles, but personally I prefer to have one WIP, *maybe* two if one isn't portable. Right now I have Venezia and that little mohair scarf on the needles. That ought to be enough for me, but I really want something new!

Namely, this:

Shoulder Shawl in Cherry Leaf Pattern from Victorian Lace Today.

As soon as Jr. Mints has received her package I'll post a picture of the yarn I'm sending her. It's been in my apartment for a month, infecting me with its beauty. I think it would be perfect for this. I really want to go to the LYS where I bought it, which had a whole lot of it at the time, and buy three skeins. Mmmm.

But! I already have a lace item on the needles, AND it's using up my good US 7s. I already have something complicated on the needles, and it's using up my complicated knitting concentration time. I don't usually buy yarn too much ahead of time, but I'm so worried that all this gorgeous stuff will be gone if I wait any longer.

I've made a deal with myself. I have to finish all this week's homework and do it well, and send Jr. Mints' package off tomorrow. Then I can go buy the yarn. But I can't cast on until I get to the armpits of Venezia, provided I have finished this:

Remember my Moebius? I didn't think so. Most of the time I don't either.

I started this last spring. The colors are a little washed out in this picture, but you get the idea. It's all seed stitch, except for a stockinette/reverse stockinette (depending on your angle) stripe in the middle. I got to the bindoff the week before I was supposed to leave for Italy, screwed up the bindoff, and couldn't fix it before I left. And I haven't touched it since, except to commandeer its needle and put the unbound stitches on a straight needle (that's what's giving it that exceptionally weird shape). It is, at most, an hour away from being done. And now that it's finally getting warm, I have some motivation to finish it.

So, those are all the measly things that stand in the way of me and this shawl. Better get back to work on the school stuff!