Tuesday, July 07, 2015

wip Name and Shame Time

Uh, I might have a problem.  A big startitis problem.  A woman at one of my knit nights recently asked me how many projects I had on the go, and I jokingly said 15.  Um.

Here, let me lay it out for you.
  1. Year in Temp scarf.  Started in January, stalled out in March.  Still recording the daily temps though, so I'll catch up...someday.
  2. Toque Tank.  This was the second knit I started during the TTTKAL, after I powered through my Avana.  It flew off of the needles...until I hit the armhole and neck bands.  This will probably only take another couple of hours of knit time.
  3. Rock, Paper, Scissors, Shoot! Nearly finished the first fingerless glove!  Loving this project, but the colourwork takes a lot of concentration.  Maybe a half-hour to finish the first?
  4. Striped toque.  This is for a silent auction for an upcoming family reunion.  We're fundraising to buy an outdoor event tent.  I'm planning to make a pair of fingerless mitts and a cowl to go with it.  This is still in the wips because I just need to finish sewing in ends.  Uh yeah.  Minutes.
  5. Henri.  The as-yet-unblogged sweater.  I adore this thing, it's like a wearable swatch, so much fun to knit!  I need maybe a few more hours to finish the front, then onto the back.  This got put on hold while I knit my Cardboard Cafe for the Holla Knits KAL.  Definitely something that needs to be picked up again soon!
  6. Fuego in Flames toque.  Haha just started this sucker.  I justified it because...because.  I'm knitting this out of a scrumptious yarn one of my best buddies sent me in March for my birthday.  Considering how much I'm loving both the pattern and this yarn, it shouldn't take too long to finish it.
  7. Amiga for the Heather's Amiga KAL.  Just blogged about this.  I'm nearly done the raglan increases, but will be holding once they're done to wait for Heather to catch up (she cast on tonight - July 7!).  
  8. Nub of a scarf.  Was supposed to be a small lacy scarf using this amazing qiviut that the above-mentioned Heather sent me a while ago.  I don't like the lace though, so I guess I'll frog this and find a better project for this yummy yarn.  Not that there's a lot to frog.
  9. SpringTastic Socks.  Started this on the way to Mexico, hoping to finish the pair on the trip.  Then realized how long fine-weight yarn socks take, so hoped to finish one.  Then was just pleased to get past the heel.  Uh, these are taking a while.  I like them though!  Must get back to them.
  10. Yet another Baby Vest.  Same pattern as the pink one I just made.  Probably only need another hour to two to finish this one?  What the heck, me, just finish it already.
  11. 5 Hour Baby Sweater.  On...5 months?  AHA yeah.  All that's left is about 12 rows for the hem and buttons, AND THAT'S IT.  I...don't even know why this isn't done.
  12. Silver Star Crocheted Blanket.  Started for a friend's baby, took too long to start, baby is now 1.5 years old?  I don't think he's getting this blanket.  Good thing I didn't tell his parents about it, eh?
  13. Reverb.  Uh so I started this November 2013, and last worked on it during a plague the end of December 13.  I do really want this cardigan, it's just been hard to restart this.  Maybe I should pull it out again after I finish Henri.
  14. Alpaca Winter Socks.  I think I mentioned these socks (or erm, half of a sock) in the Baby Vest post - they're a community knitting project.  They'll be a really heavy and warm men's over-socks.  These suckers weigh a ton already!
  15. Dishcloths!  I'm including both of these as one project so I don't go over the holy number 15, shhh.  Actually, I've joined another dishcloth swap and they posted both the Happy dishcloth and the Pinwheel dishcloth.  I spent that morning working on these instead of cleaning my house and packing for a camping trip last Friday. HAHAHA.  The crochet dishcloth only needs another half hour to finish.  The pinwheel needs to be seamed and have all the ends sewn in.  One or both is going to someone awesome!
I actually think there might be more, but this is what I could find.  And this doesn't even touch on sewing.  I have a declaration to make though:

I, Heather of Things I Make. Plus Rocks, do declare that I will finish at least 5 of these projects in the next month, and will not start anything else until they're done.  I will also finish all of these projects before the end of 2015.

And now it's your turn: how many wips do you have?  *arches eyebrow*

10 comments:

  1. Ha! I've got you beat-I'm sitting at 16, and they're not all getting done this year :) Part of it is my habit of keeping a couple of marathon WIPs on the needles, and part of it is a bunch of design projects in different stages of development right now. However neither of those excuses having three pairs of socks and three sweaters on the go at once too!

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    1. Nice! But you're a designer, so I think excessive WIPs is a must, eh? I don't know how you could have 3 pairs of socks on the go though - those suckers take forever and that's like SIX SOCKS TOTAL! I can't even get through one! lol I hear ya on the sweaters though - SO MANY PRETTY PATTERNS I WANT TO WEAR THEM ALL.

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  2. I'm a little in awe of your ambition. I always lament the fact that I'll probably never manage to knit everything in my Ravelry favorites (and I don't even have that many!), whereas it looks like you dove straight into your list and dared the space-time continuum to try to stop you. :-D Would you believe I only have one knitting WIP? It's a Marion cardigan for the Outfit Along 2015. I'm making good progress on it, too. The dress is another story. When my muslin didn't turn out as planned, I abandoned ship and sewed a completely different dress (that doesn't match my cardigan, and thus doesn't work for the OAL) instead. Basically, I avoid knitting WIPs by being a monogamous knitter, and sewing WIPs by quitting long before I can stall on something like fine-tuning fitting or finishing. So, no useful advice to give here! LOL

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    1. I'm a little in awe of your discipline. I don't know how you can be so monogamous when faced with so many shiny patterns! lol But you probably get more things done than me. :)

      Marion is a lovely pattern. I really should revisit it and do the mods needed to make it more wearable for me (i.e. lengthening it) because it's a beautiful sweater. What dress pattern did you wind up making up? Now that you've nailed the fit, could you sew another to match your sweater for the OAL?

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  3. The dress that worked is a Kitschy Coo Lady Skater. It could use a little tweaking to a get a perfect fit, but that's definitely easier than figuring out what's up with my original pattern, McCall's 6887. The real problem is that I bought fabric (as a frustration-induced, spur-of-the-moment pick-me-up) for the Lady Skater, and I would have to buy more for another dress, whereas I already have a nice cotton lawn for the McCall's dress. Normally I wouldn't bat an eye over it, but I'm trying to keep an eye on spending since I'm planning to move in the not-too-distant future. I'm thinking instead of wrestling the pattern or buying more fabric, I'll compromise and pick a different woven dress pattern that works better with the fabric I've got. There's still time to finish the OAL, after all!

    I've seen your notes on your Marion. (Funnily enough, I'm also knitting it cropped and in a grassy green shade.) I think it would look lovely knit up longer and in a neutral color. I can understand it's not a high priority though, given the WIPs pile. I'd love to see a follow-up post on your strategy for tackling it. Will you work on the ones closest to being done first, or the ones you can use soonest, or the ones with the biggest payoff (i.e. sweaters)? Or will you just wing it, because it's knitting and it should be fun, not work? Inquiring minds would love to know!

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    1. What kind of style are you looking for? I really like Colette's Laurel - it's an easy to wear and comfortable dress, and super simple to construct. Hardest part is setting in the sleeves, and if you make it sleeveless, it'd be even easier! There's a lot of great patterns out there now for woven dresses, so I'm sure you'll be able to find something perfect. :)

      Eh, I'll tackle it as I feel like it. Certain things (like the hat and the mitts to go with it) needs to be done sooner rather than later. Other things (like that grey baby sweater) has needles that I need for another project (in this case, the red hat I'm working on), and I refuse to steal the needles when it only needs a few minutes of knitting to complete. Everything else, I'll plug at when I feel like it - although I'm going to try to focus on individual projects instead of waffling between them.

      *ahem* I might've already finished that baby sweater, and I'm half done the red toque already. ;)

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  4. Wow, Heather. Wow. You make me feel better about my WiPs in the sidebar of my blog. I recently noticed how crazy long the list looked and felt really uncomfortable about it. But why? 2 were never started, just posted to put a photo of the yarn with them. 5 are finished and awaiting posts. 2 are long term/ scrap blankets and there are only 5 needing work. Why should I feel bad about that? Come on, it's not like I'm doing crack with the family fortune. It's just a few balls of yarn that I haven't had time to attend to. I think your WIP list is admirable. There are lots of types of things you are trying and several knits for gifting to others. That's pretty cool of you, even if the babies outgrow the knits, you can always find another baby, right? Maybe we are too hard on ourselves with how much yarn we have and how many things we start. I, personally, love having options when I have a few minutes to myself.
    Having said that, I can feel a little ADD if things get too spread out, but that's an individual thing, I think.
    So, Cast On, Heather (as in, Rock on!) You are a very creative, neat person.

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    1. Heh, I remember a while back, you were stressing out about your WIP pile. And yes, there were quite a few of them, but you made me sweat a bit about the amount of projects in my 'to finish' basket. :D I noticed your ever growing sidebar of WIPs, but I think you're right that the 'placeholder' projects make it look worse than it is. It's a nice idea though, having your yarn set and ready for a particular project so you don't forget why you have it. :)

      I like having options! This is...just maybe a little too many. I have so many projects I want to knit and so much yarn to knit it from, and I think I need to get some of these done before I start anything else. Plus maybe the boyfriend will stop Looking At Me Like That if I have some finished projects to show for it!

      You're a very neat and creative person yourself! I'm always so inspired by you and your projects.

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  5. 24 knitting, 1 crochet, 4 weaving, 3 spinning, 14 quilting (approx). I don't have a problem with it...

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