I had (and still have) so many WIPS that I need to take a vow of completion!
Do you ever get so caught up in your knit and crochet projects that you end up with so many things sitting around that are half finished or just need the final finishing touches, such as blocking? That’s happened to me this year and I looked around my house a couple of weeks ago and said “Really you need some focus!” and I made a vow of completion – meaning that I would finish up existing projects before starting any new ones. (ya right – good luck with that!)
So, here are the WIPS that I need to finish or have finally finished.
My turtle pincushion has no eyes! Maybe I left them off on purpose so he couldn’t see the needles and pins heading in his direction?
The crocheted Christmas amigurumi are done:
- Mr. & Mrs. Snowman
- Penguin
- and seal
Project posts will be available in a few days where I will provide pattern links, materials I used and finished heights. If I really hustle I’ll write up the pattern for Mrs. Snowman’s hat and cape. The pattern was only for Mr. Snowman and I wanted a Mrs. Snowman as well – keep an eye on the Projects page.
I have some crochet hats that need to be washed and blocked and others that just need to be finished.
Does anyone NOT wash and block their finished items such as hats? I always wash and block everything with the exception of the amigurumi – they would take forever to dry and I wouldn’t want to put them in the dryer.
I have a two knitted baby sweater that were on hold while I waited for some small circular needles to arrive so I could finish the sleeves – they still aren’t done, guess I just got bored (honestly, I totally forgot about them – shame on me!).
The knitted Lily of the Valley Vest is finally finished! It turned out beautifully. Read more about the Lily of the Valley Vest here.
And then there was Angelly – who is a garden fairy/angel and will be part of a display at my favorite local greenhouse that my neighbor Crystal owns. I focused on her so that she was ready for the grand opening on Mother’s Day. Angelly was a gift to Crystal and she was so impressed that she has asked me to put my items in her gift shop at the greenhouse. (Yipee, I’m so excited). There will be a project post soon about Angelly on the Projects page.
I started this post in March, HOW did it get to be the end of July already?
In all honesty, this year has been crazy busy – the day job as a software developer and QuickBooks trainer, has been insane. Some days I don’t even get a chance to work on any projects at all – sometimes I go an entire week without picking up the hook or the needles {egads, yes that’s horrible}.
I’ve spent 2-3 hours a day for the last 2 or 3 weeks securing this website (moving it from http to https) and let me tell you THAT was a chore! I still have to do all of the structured data stuff so the site will rank better with Google. So that’s one almost down and four more much bigger sites to go for the software business and I can tell you I am NOT looking forward to those one bit!
Pictures are another thing that take up an incredible amount of time and even though my house is full of 6 foot tall window the lighting is never right (too much sun or not enough) and I have NO wall space! I finally made myself a light box for the smaller items and draped some fabric over a door for the larger things and even that’s not quite right, but it is better. Here’s my cat Marvin “helping” with the photo’s the other day.
I was asked to do two courses for a group that I belong to on “Starting your yarn related business” and another on “Bookkeeping basics for your yarn related business” and I spent a lot of time and energy on that and now I’m not sure that the classes will even go live. So that was a lot of time and energy.
And there are SO many things that I want to make and focus on……but summer is here, company and grandchildren are coming to visit and the garden harvest is already starting and it will quickly be followed by canning season.
Does “life” get in the way? Do you ever get so caught up in the “making” that you leave many projects unfinished or put them away while waiting for something and then forget about them? Do you take a “vow of completion” or stuff them in the closet for a later date?
How do you handle all your WIPS when life gets in the way?
Does life get in the way? Girlie, are you serious? LOL
I have one project that’s been in hibernation for awhile, but I’d like to finish before it gets really cold (it’s a huge, fluffy buttoned cowl) and another that I’m going to eventually frog and start over (a lace shawl I started before I had the skills to actually do that advanced level of lace). Oh, and one sock that is desperate for a mate. LOL Other than that, I have two active WIPs, both shawls – one should be finished early next week (super quick and easy knit, so far), an another really big shawl that is my “mindless project” for now. I’ll eventually buckle down on it, too, because I want it ready for Fall; the colors are gorgeously autumnal and it it will be wonderfully warm.
ROFL – yes, I’m serious about does “life get in the way?” But I also know it’s one of those really silly questions – because of course it does!
Can’t wait to see your finished projects!
My issue isn’t so much WIPs (I only have 3 – a crochet photo pattern experiment, a beach cover up that’s almost done, and a sweater experiment) but destashing and yarn storage. Haven’t really let anything go and I would really like to use yarn in my stash before buying more but there really isn’t enough in one color for what I want to do. So I’ve been frogging some items, like tops and sweaters that I’ve hardly ever worn. The reused yarn is good for experimenting with design ideas, like the sweater experiment.
Oh my gosh – destashing! If you find a way PLEASE let me know! I have yarn that I’ve purchased because I’ve wanted to try it to see how I like it and never enough to do a real project….I’ve gifted some to my granddaughters but I still have a bunch left.
Way to go on reusing yarn for experimenting!
You can do swatches in different stitch patterns and hook sizes with the yarn you don’t have enuf of for a project. It’ll give you an idea of the different kinds of fabric you can create if you’re into making garments. I have googobs of worsted weight acrylic in different colors. I might crochet an afghan or two and donate them. We have a pretty active Project Linus group here. But that will probably have to wait until after Christmas because I need to start gift making soon. I’ll probably use stash yarn as much as possible for that.
Great tips – I’ve done swatches and squares, dishcloths and amigurumi with stash yarn. My problem is I just don’t have enough hours in the darned day LOL. Oh Christmas – gulp – it will be here before we know it and I have started a little here a little there.
Yeah, I know time is always an issue, isn’t it? I’m determined to get started before November this year on the Christmas gifts.
TIME – it always feels like it’s my enemy and never my friend LOL Good luck on your Christmas gifts and yes, November is too late to start!