Monthly Archives: December 2017

WIP Management for 2018

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How does one manage a large quantity of WIPs?  How does one find balance with finishing a project and starting all the shiny new ones that one comes across? I didn’t manage to conquer this problem while I was a cross stitcher and now I will probably never finish all the really cool patterns I’ve collected and projects I’ve kitted up. I’m starting to fear the same with knitting.

I’m lining up all my project bags and hoping to find some method for getting some time in on each of them.

Should I decide that Wednesdays are for WIPs?  Dedicate a project for knit night? Number them and grab a number out of the bowl and work on it for 2 hours? Random number generator on a spreadsheet?

So, this is the Great WIP Management of 2018. I’m getting an early start.

Step One:

I gathered all my WIPs into one big pile. I’m going through them to see what I still want to make and if there is anything I want to frog.

Frog No. 1  Minecraft Creepers Scarf.

I originally started it for Joshua, but he’s not into that sort of thing anymore and I’ve never seen that he wears his hat. I didn’t like how it was coming out anyway, too thick. I’ve reclaimed the yarn and put it back in stash and reclaimed the cable which is now back in the interchangeable needle bag.

Step Two: Pick something to frog if you don’t want to make it anymore.

Step Three: Document (see above)

Step Four: Feel better about yourself.

Step Five: Pick something and keep it handy.

I think this one will live under my desk so I can pick it up and work on it whenever I want. During the winter is a great time to work on afghans. I have had this yarn For. Ev. Er.

The few skeins that still have a ball band have a Sprouse Reitz price tag on them and then a tag from somewhere else.  I’ve never lived anywhere that had a Sprouse Reitz and I vaguely remember buying this yarn on clearance (84 cents!!  Oh My Gosh) at either a Fred Meyer or a Kmart.  Neither of those stores have been in this area for many, many years.  I’d like to say this yarn is at least 20 years old.

A few thoughts about knitting reality

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Binding off in pattern: If these boots cuffs weren’t for my dear daughters, I wouldn’t have done it.  It looks a little better than not binding off in pattern, but not enough better that makes it worth how much longer it takes me.

Color changes:  I didn’t cut the yarn and tie off a new one for each color change, I carried the extra color up the seam.  It looks a tiny bit odd, but not having more ends to weave in made it worth it.

Knitting has an element of give and take. In the business world, this is called ROI. Return on investment. I want my things to be perfect, but I also have to be realistic about how much time I have. I had a lot of Christmas knitting to do and not nearly as much time as I thought.

Not a creature was stirring

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Well, there was this creature…

Christmas Day passed super quietly with almost no company. All of the kids were elsewhere and we enjoyed a lovely quiet day. I still had to cook and clean, but one never gets away from that, does one? Our celebrations were a few days later which means I still had time to finish knitting.  After more cooking and cleaning, of course.

In addition to a few knitting projects, I did a little stirring myself. The sourdough experiments continued and another batch of peppermint sugar scrub happened.

Still, I was a day or two late finishing the boot cuffs. I was anxious to cast off the last one when this happened:

I know I’m famous for losing at yarn chicken, but that’s not what happened here. I cut the yarn before casting off the stitches on the last needle.

Merry Cook&Cleanmas, everyone!

 

 

 

Boot cuffs instead

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My stocking suddenly turned into a boot cuff. I had gotten a few inches into the thing and started wondering if I shouldn’t put it down and start working on some small Christmas knitting projects I had planned.  I didn’t have anything planned for the girls who just wanted cash, but I wanted to do something small so they’d have something to open. I looked down at the stocking to be and boot cuffs popped into my head. I gathered some measurements and decided that this would probably be the perfect size.

I kept going with the red into a 2×2 rib and then cast off.

I didn’t like the cast off and will redo it in pattern to see if I like that better.

We pulled off a wedding

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In October, my daughter got married and it still doesn’t seem quite real.

Wedding manicure

Wedding day breakfast

Wedding day hair

On our way to the venue

There was very little that I had to do. The heavy lifting was done by the venue, caterer, photographer and Danica herself. Danica did the center pieces, bouquets, and corsages. A seamstress (that turned out to be a cousin) made her dress. I’m exhausted, but that’s mostly mental trying to wrap my head around having a married daughter. I ran a few errands and picked up a few things, but my job in this thing was relatively small. The biggest thing I did, aside from giving birth to her, was to make her a shawl.

Everything was wonderful, everything was beautiful. I got to socialize with friends and family. I got to walk my daughter down the aisle and I got to sign the marriage certificate as a witness. It was a beautiful evening. I sat beside my mother and watched as my husband did a fabulous job officiating the ceremony.

I’ve laughed and cried as my daughter embarked on this new stage in her life.

Then her new husband whisked her away for a honeymoon in Paris and my brain stayed firmly stuck overseas wondering and worrying over their safety until they finally landed back here.

Startitis Paralysis

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I’ve wanted to start things for weeks, months. I want to start a shawl. I can’t decide which one. I want to start a Christmas stocking. I can’t pick out a pattern. I want to knit a baby blanket rather than crochet one. I can’t pick a pattern for one of those, either.

Many years ago, I saw a knit Christmas stocking that I really liked. I’m still kicking myself that I didn’t just buy it. It was at Gardner Village and I absolutely adore everything about that place.I suppose I thought “hey, I can just knit that” and then didn’t even bother to take notes on what it looked like. It was years before I had a cell phone with a camera and it would have been much too rude to take a picture of it anyway. I’ve been looking for just the right one ever since. I’ve looked through several patterns and I just don’t seem to find The One.

I’ve accepted that this isn’t the stocking that I really wanted, but, you can’t really go wrong with candy cane stripes.

I don’t like to weave in ends, so I’m carrying the other color up the inside.

This is a feisty little one. It will soon learn some respect.