Ever since I started thinking about the idea of running a WiP-Along I had a kind of vague idea about what I would work on too. You see, I have a WiP box in my craft room. It has been there for the last couple of years and even though it’s been moved around at times (mostly when I needed to get to the boxes underneath it) I haven’t actually worked on anything in it for all that time. So I thought I’d dig out the box, dust off old projects and actually complete some of them.
But then I gave my friend Christine a ball of yarn for her birthday, promising that the yarn would magically turn into a pair of socks. And I want her to be able to get some use from her socks before winter is over and I’m not a particularly fast sock knitter, so I decided that they really should be a priority and Christine’s socks made it on to the list.
Then a couple of weeks ago I was chatting to my brother and asked if there was anything he’d like me to make him for Christmas. He couldn’t think of anything at that point, but not long after our conversation he sent me a link to a pattern for this jumper…
Now, this is a small child’s jumper. My brother is a 6″2′ 32 year old man. And even though I know I can use the robot pattern chart in conjunction with an adult jumper pattern, it’s going to take a bit of thinking about. Considering the fact that jumpers take a while to knit anyway and that this is a really busy few months, I realised that I’d better make a start on this soon if I have any hope of finishing it before Christmas. So Andy’s jumper was added to the list.
But I was still determined to go back to some of those very old and neglected projects from my WiP box. I had a vague picture in my mind of an autumnal ripple blanket that would be lurking in the depths of the box. And what better time to work on it than in the autumn?
But the way I’d remembered it is not quite how it is. There are a lot more colours than I remember and even though I quite like it I don’t think I totally love it. So I’m now considering frogging it, setting aside some of the colours and starting again with a different selection. But I’m still dithering over all that, so, for the time being, the autumnal blanket will stay in the box.
However, I did come across another blanket which I’d vaguely thought about adding to my list. Another ripple blanket, in bold colours for a little boy. I started making it when my friend was pregnant. I can’t remember if I knew she was expecting a boy or if I was going to make a ‘girl’ blanket as well so that I would be ready for any eventuality. As it happened, my friend gave birth early and the blanket wasn’t finished. You’d think that would motivate me to finish the blanket quickly. Unfortunately, it ended up being set aside and ultimately abandoned. That little baby boy started school a few weeks ago and his mum is pregnant with baby brother or sister for him. When this baby is born, I’d love to be able to have a blanket ready for each of them – a big brother blanket and a newborn baby blanket. And so, Olly’s blanket is on the list.
And finally to liula. I love how this pattern looks. I love the softness of the yarn and the gorgeous colour changes. And I know I’ll love the finished scarf. But, for some reason, I’m not totally loving the making process. I’m wondering if it’s because I’m finding my shoulders and hands ache more when I work with small hooks and skinny yarn. It feels like more of an effort and I can’t do more than a few rows before I have to take a break. So, before this becomes yet another abandoned project, I added it to my list in the hope that it might help me to just keep going.
You’ve probably notice that I have added bullet points to most of my projects. Some of them are going to take a while to work through, and it’s great to be able to tick off milestones along the way. I’ve also added my October target to the side of each one. I’m aiming to finish Olly’s blanket and Christine’s socks, but have set smaller goals for Andy’s jumper and liula. If I have time to do more, that’ll be fantastic, but I wanted to set realistic, achievable targets to give me a hope of actually meeting them!
I’ve also used my calendar to mark times when crafting is definitely going to happen. I’m spending a long weekend in Wales with my parents and have planned which projects I’m going to take (rather than just taking everything [which is what I usually do] and ending up working on nothing [again, what I usually do]). Liula is easy enough to work on in short snippets of time here and there, whereas Andy’s jumper will be a great ‘sit down at the end of the day and relax’ project. Plus, Mum is a better knitter than I am, so if I come across any tricky bits I’ll be able to turn to her for advice – bonus!
I’ll also be using my calendar to keep track of various milestones along the way. I’m hoping that by the end of the month it will be full of information tracking my progress – all carefully colour coded of course! You can download your own copy of this lovely calendar (created by the very talented Charlie of @lovecharlie.co) for free right here – just click on the link -> AutumnWAL Calendar
And, because I’m nosy, I’d love to see your WiP lists and calendars too! Share on Instagram with #autumnwal17, or post a link in the comments to your blog/other social media. Let’s get those WiPs finished!