WIP: Work in Progress (for me, I have worked on it in the last two weeks and can pick up work on it anytime with no barriers.
UFO: Unfinished Objects. Projects that have hit a barrier or seeming dead end, or become boring. My quilting UFO's are out of control, and I have worked hard to keep my knitting UFO's reasonable.
Queue: the new projects waiting to be started. Patterns, yarn, needles - or some of them - waiting their turn.
About a month ago, I noticed I had about 9 WIPs and a small handful of UFO's and I wasn't making progress on anything.
Also, there were about 15 new projects I wanted to start. Colorwork wrist warmers in Shetland yarn using fair isle techniques. Hats and more hats. Two at a time wrist-warmers on using Magic Loop. Shawls. Scarves. and more! Toys!
So I made a few rules:
1. Finish 3 old projects before starting a new one.
2. Work on the reasons the UFO was at a standstill and prepare those projects for entry into the WIPs. WIPs usually turn into UFOs when I encounter a problem, such as running out of a supply, or struggling with technique, or losing the pattern (really).
3. Have 4 WIPs at a time (or maybe 5 if you count my random knitting from my swift at home)(and I don't count that one).
Photos and how the first few weeks went below:
What Are You Working On is a community diary series for all things crafty and artsy, in a variety of mediums and techniques.
You may volunteer to guest host by joining this yahoo group, which I check from time to time. Also by joining this group, you will receive one email a week when the diary is posted. You may also volunteer to host by posting a comment in this diary.
If you click on the WAYWO group, there is a box for the group about 4 boxes down on the right hand side. If you click on the heart in this box, you will "follow" this group and the diary will appear in your "stream."
First, I gathered all the knitting projects. The kitties had a grand time. I chose the 3 closest to being finished, and one project I have been working on steadily.
Stephen West's Windschief Hat on Magic Loop - this is made with Aleisha Goes Around Panoply of Peacocks worsted. Sadly, there are no updates to this web page since the owner went on pregnancy-related bedrest.
Felicity Hat Pattern, significantly modified. Finished pic only. I used Lamb's Pride from Brown Sheep because I wanted to try this yarn which is grown and processed in the USA entirely.
Leaf-Lace Handwarmers from 60 Quick Knits in Cascade220. The first one was finished on Ash Wednesday.
A scarf made with this Red Heart fashion acrylic. I am addicted to knitting scarves out of fashion acrylics. This particular one was weird - the yarn is a 4" wide fishnet that self-ruffles, and you work it by knitting in the top band only. The instructions I found on the web were not so clear, but I fiddled around and decided to knit one row and purl the next, keeping the yarn on the same side of the work most of the time.
I quickly finished the two red hats and the blue scarf:
Felicity's gathered top.
Windschief on the flat and . . .
from the top on the hat form at my LYS (local yarn store).
Yay for me!
I had a lot of trouble knitting the first Lace-Leaf, as I had never read a chart nor knitted lace before. One of my friends at the LYS taught me about lifelines, and mcronan and Frankenoid mentioned them in previous waywo's. So for the second Lace-Leaf, I put in a few helps, including a lifeline. A lifeline is simply an extra thread, usually a smooth yarn in a contrasting color, that you weave through a row of stitches. Then if you need to rip out rows because of mistakes, you don't have to rip out all the way to the beginning.
Here the lifeline is done, and I've knitted a few more rows. I also put a stitch marker next to the center stitch, and I have a pink marker on the right side. It is going well, but I have made additional enhancements:
1. I bought a chart keeping board, a magnetic board with strips to mark where you are and stuff.
2. I read Charts Made Simple, just the first few chapters so far, to better understand charts and how to use them.
This project is still in my works-in-progress bag.
The other three projects now in my bag include this Drop Stitch Scarf made from Aslan's Magic Garden variegated.
I saw the yarn and knew what pattern it wanted to be even before I touched it. When I touched it, I thought it might be wool, but it was a nice LYS acrylic. I am well into the second skein now, I estimate I am 65-75% done. I will finish when I run out of yarn.
This is the Garter-Stitch Loop-Through Scarf from 101 Designer one-skein Wonders. It had a lot of problems. First of all, I broke the working needle. And the yarn (Paton Silk Bamboo) had a number of breaks or cat-chew-spots in it with a zillion ends that needed weaving in in the first 50 rows. Thirdly, the needles (broken as they were) and yarn (messy as it was) were separated from the pattern.
To rehab this project and get it back into the working bag, I:
1. replaced the needle with a circular in the same size.
2. actually ripped out the whole project and started over with a fresh skein. I was able to quickly knit back to the spot where I had ripped, and even made another "enhancement". The pattern calls for knitting "2 inches" of this and that, but my row counts were different for both times, and I want the other end to match this one. So I took a row gauge from the part I had knitted, and used 12 rows for the two inches instead. I love my row counters!
3. reunited the pattern with the project. Pretty handy trick, that one is.
Also, this yarn is incredibly soft, dk weight, and just a bit slippery, very shiny - it will be lovely next to my skin, as this is a close-fitting scarf, and one I plan to keep for me.
My reward for finishing the first 3 projects was to start one new one. I am making a hat using Cascade Venezia, and I am experimenting with some mosaic-style (using slipped stitches) colorwork. The Venezia is 70% silk, and feels very good on the skin also. This is a gift for a woman undergoing chemotherapy, and I chose this yarn for its softness, and in the hopes it wouldn't be too warm over the next few summery months.
I also am doing some prep work for my next new project (swatching and studying cast-ons for stretchy lace). And I have reunited a couple more patterns with their projects for a pair of UFO's that will hopefully come back into the WIP group soon.
Although given the time of year, and since they are so tiny, I may knit a few Easter Eggs this week too. I have my striped sock yarn out, and the needles and pattern ;-)