however, the point of this post is not to shame my cat for her rapid descent into toothless-ness. the shame under discussion is entirely my own. ladies and gentlemen, i am going to introduce you to what my tribe calls "shame".
but first a bit of vocab to set you straight.
in the world of knitting and other related fiber crafts, a WIP is a "work in progress"—that being, a project that you have actively begun working on and have not yet finished. then there is a UFO, an "unfinished object"... which is a polite term for a WIP that has been abandoned while you decide if you should frog (unravel) or finish it. some WIPs become UFOs simply because you got distracted by some shiny new thing and totally forgot the nearly-completed top you had been working on (she says from personal experience). that completes the vocabulary lesson for the day, i promise.
while every maker-of-things is inclined to have one (or more) project on the go at any given time, there is such a thing as having too many WIPs. just how many WIPs do i have on the go at present? too many. the answer to that question is definitely too many. oh, the shame.
it is universally understood that there is a great deal of embarrassment and much-needed motivation to be gained from the occasional bout of WIP-shaming, so i am going to lay my proverbial dirty-laundry bare for the world to see. maybe that will motivate me to finally finishing off a few things. maybe.
the most recently started project is the one i call my 'making my own sunshine' top (the Gloria sweater by Signe Strømgaard ). this one is being knit in a lightweight cotton yarn, so i will (probably) make it short-sleeved for the Summer. probably.
then there is the Morning in Engelberg sweater by Nadia Crétin-Léchenne. i have been in love with this sweater since it was first published (back in 2015), but i kept talking myself out of making it. so, there i was one day in December, looking for a (relatively) quick sweater project for self, when i went sorting through my ever-expanding queue—the knitter's "bucket list", as it were—and i came across this pattern.
i challenged myself to get it done in time to wear it for our special New Year's Eve meal. however, if you read my post from two nights ago, you will know how that ended. between the cold/flu and the general Winter blues, i became so disenchanted that i was tempted to unravel my work so far. i ended up tossing this sweater aside for a while and i cast on the bright-yellow top out of a desperate need for some literal and proverbial sunshine.
and, while i was in the mood for casting on new things, i got started on a Jaiden sweater (by Isabell Kraemer) for him. i decided to keep this as a surprise, with the thought of gifting it to him since he is so fond of wearing the things i knit for him. that surprise lasted all of about two days before i finally broke down and said, "by the way, i'm knitting you a new sweater". this is probably why i have never been asked to be a spy.
this is being knit in some navy blue wool yarn from super-deep in my stash. i am holding it doubled for this project. i just love the texture on the top section of this sweater.
there is also my "spite" project, which has received almost zero attention since i blogged about it back in November, so this one definitely qualifies as a UFO at present, but i assure that it will get done. spite, like a fine wine, is better aged.
i was also working on a pair of Yamadori socks (by ema marinescu) for him out of some of my own hand-dyed yarn. i called this colorway "urban decay", as it was inspired by the bent and tarnished copper cross atop an old church in our neighborhood. i am sooo done with these socks. the textured stitch on the top of the foot means that the sock does not stretch as much as it would otherwise, so it is a struggle to get it past his heels.
the two socks have been in "time-out" for months now, and i have finally accepted that i will never finish them, so they will be frogged as soon as i hit "publish" on this post. in an ideal world i would reuse the yarn for a different sock pattern. however, this project has caused me so much frustration that there is a possibility that the yarn may have to be destroyed by fire to appease the knitting gods.
then there are the ancient UFOs that whisper to me when i am trying to fall asleep at night.
firstly, there was the Isthmus Pullover by Allison Jane. i fell in love with this pattern at first sight, and i could not wait to get started working on it.
only problem was, i was not crazy about the stand-up collar in the original design. so, i did a bit of reworking and settled on making the collar half as tall. then i started working on the sweater, and the more i knit, the more i decided i really did not want that style of collar after all.
this sweater features a rather intricate array of cables that requires a whole lot of attention while you knit, and i simply could not bring myself to frog the bit i had done so far to restart it. that was a year-and-a-half ago. i really want to add this sweater to my wardrobe, so i need to bite the bullet (as the saying goes) and start over on this project... one of these days.
that was around the same time when i got a copy of the Knitted Cable Sourcebook by my fave knitwear designer Norah Gaughan (who i have gushed about in the past). after much deliberation and some deep meditation, i got started on a Sourcebook Chunky Cardigan for self. [that bit of half-dried greenery used to be part of a houseplant that my littlest kitty has vowed to destroy one leaf at a time.]
then, for some unknown reason, it was abandoned. i even attempted to shame myself into getting back to working on that project. unfortunately, that was in the middle of the Summer, and it really was too hot for that foolishness.
but, most outstanding of all is my appropriately-nicknamed "slow knitting blanket. this is the Bright Star pattern—also by Norah Gaughan. i began working on this in the Summer of 2016, and i will hopefully have it completed before the Summer of 2019... hopefully. the pieces live in a bag that once housed a blanket. [note the purple reading glasses for scale.]
to be fair, all of the pieces are done. it is just the headache of sewing them together (not to mention, adding some sort of border) that is causing me intense anxiety. i intend to pop a bottle of champagne when this is finally done.
while you may think that i should have enough to keep me occupied with all of the above, i can hear the call of future-WIPs and UFOs beckoning me.
i am absolutely in love with the geometric motif which is featured in the Square Deal Geometric Jumper (by Jennie Atkinson). i used the Stitch Fiddle chartmaker tool to try out some color combos that would make use of yarn i already have in my stash. not bad.
i also recently purchased some wool-free sock yarn from my local yarn shop. everyone seems to be excited about wearing hand-knit socks, so i figured knitting a pair that i can actually wear might give me a chance to understand all the hype. we shall see.
i also have a bit of charity knitting i have been meaning to get around to for some time now... and that is all before Winter begins to show any signs of ending. the Summer knits will begin to call to me once it starts to warm up even the slightest bit. then all of the current Wintery WIPs will become UFOs until the season changes again.
it is the circle of life... with yarn. it is my happy place.
oh, and in the midst of all of this, i am still making clothes for Barbie dolls. one day it will all make sense, i promise.
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