Little Acorn

*WIP

* That's "works in progress" for those of you who might not know that.

I like calling them "works in progress" rather than half finished attempts at craftiness languishing in the pile 'o shame because of 1) pure laziness or 2) some unforeseen disaster. I was doing a big tidy up of my studio in anticipation of moving it downstairs so that the room off the kitchen can become a playroom and I found a lot of WIP's. Here's just a sampling...

#1 Crocheted Baby Blocks

 

Project started: end of May 2009, when I was so very sick

Reason for stall: too lazy to go to the foam shop

Likelihood of finishing: I even have all the ends woven in, so I think it's pretty likely these will get finished

#2 Baby Beret/Tam/Slouchy Hat

Project started: Thanksgiving weekend

Reason for stall: I think I'm going to run out of yarn and that makes me anxious

Likelihood of finishing: I like knitting small gauge in the round, the yarn is pretty and a baby in a slouchy hat (possibly with a pom pom) is too cute, so I think this is the most likely of these projects to get finished quickly

#3 Booties?

Project started: no idea...If I had to guess I would say Autumn of 08

Reason for stall: lost in pile of other stuff

Likelihood of finishing: After I took the picture I did find the soles and lining for these, so if I can come up with the pattern I was using I suppose I could finish them...but I probably won't

#4 Jumper Dress

Project started: July 2009

Reason for stall: we didn't know if the small person was going to be a boy or a girl, so I thought I should wait before making too much girl stuff

Likelihood of finishing: I'm intimidated by this project for some reason, but I suppose I'll give it a try at some point

#5 Play/Floor Quilt

Project started: August 2009

Reason for stall: I don't know what fabric to use for the binding and the vintage linen I used for part of it got all stretchy and weird so it's not very square anymore which bothers me

Likelihood of finishing: It's too big a project to just leave, so I'm going to have to just pick something and finish the binding and live with the less-than-square aspects of it

#6 Crib Blanket

Project started: October 2009

Reason for stall: I lost my crochet hook down the heat vent, am discouraged by the amount of ends I have to weave in, I didn't buy enough of the teal yarn and it's turning out way crunchier than I'd hoped (I went with acrylic for practicality and it's just awful)

Likelihood of finishing: The colours are perfect for our girl's room, but once I lost my hook I lost all enthusiasm for this project. It will end up at least a dolly blanket, but I may not finish the crib sized one

There are more, but I just have to leave it at that. All creative people have WIP's right? I probably have an average amount, yes? How many do you have? What's your oldest WIP? I will definitely absolutely probably finish up some of these soon, I hope. Or maybe I'll just start some new projects. The WIP's are patient...

Potential

I don't know what I'm going to do with them yet, but I think these little people-esque wooden figures have a lot of potential.

Summer Slump

Does anyone else experience a crafting slump during the summer or is it just me? Maybe it's because my studio is the hottest room in the house, but I'm really not motivated to sew or work on patterns or anything involving brain work lately. In the summer I spend a lot of time outside in the garden and I enjoy cooking a lot more in the summer, but crafting? Not so much. I do enjoy a lot of knitting in the summer, which seems to be pretty contrary to what most people do, but a nice quiet project that can be done on the sofa under the ceiling fan while I watch television is perfect for the hottest days of summer. I went on a yarn spree recently at the annual inventory sale at my local yarn shop and probably have about a years worth of projects lined up. Of course I ended up buying a lot of sock yarn (beautiful , beautiful Fleece Artist sock yarn) but I don't knit socks, so I'm either going to have to learn or find some other projects for it. I have a lovely lacy shawl knit from sock yarn, so I know it's not just for the feet.

Right-Side-Out

Here she is, right side out! Just a prototype as there are a few things I want to tweak (arm placement, less of a bowling pin neck, etc), but I think she's pretty sweet. She's just a smidge over 12" and as with most of my projects she's made with mostly found/recycled fabrics.  The pattern is my own, but I always fear that I've been overly influenced by all the other great softies out there and want to do something with my own unique stamp on it. There won't be the same crazy hair on many more dollies as I'm running out of that weird but fabulous fabric. It's obviously some sort of creepy plastic-y stuff as it doesn't fray a bit, but it's super soft and sproingy and has the texture of really thick velvet or very short fake fur. It doesn't even fuzz when you cut it. Space age technologies at work there, I'm sure! I'm also working on a dress up dolly and she's cute but currently naked, as I don't seem to be able to get past the sack-dress-with-elastic-neckband stage.

Prototypes

My studio is nice and cool today, so I've been working on some softie prototypes. Patternmaking is a skill I'm still working on, so I'm pleased with how smoothly it's going. Often (okay, usually) at this stage there's muttering and threats, but today things have flowed pretty well. I'll just give you a little inside-out peek today, but maybe tomorrow or thursday there will be some new girls to introduce.

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I Think I'm Doing It

Hey! I think I'm actually working on my first quilt! Choosing fabric and trying out different combinations to make up the blocks was so very, very  fun. The actual sewing and trying to get everything so very perfecty perfect? Mostly fun, I suppose... On my first try I got 8 of the 10 4-patch blocks sewed together to meet my standard. Straight lines are often a challenge for me, so I was pretty pleased with that ratio. The other 2 had a do-over and one of them just refused to come out right so I'm still deciding whether it's good enough. These blocks will be interspersed with some single polka-dotted squares of the same size and will end up a little quilt of 36 by 45 inches. Unless things go horribly wrong from here...

B.I.P.

That's Bunny In Progress, of course!

Yes, you guessed it...this is Greta's before picture.

How Do You Spell Procrastination?

C-R-O-C-H-E-T

It's much bigger than this now. A project AND a blankie that keeps me pinned to the sofa - perfect for cold days when I just feel like letting my brain get soft and doughy.

As Predicted...

As I predicted in this post, I keep putting down my big lace project and going for the instant satisfaction of fast and easy knitting projects. This is the start of a Tudora from the latest Knitty. It looks like a quick and easy pattern and just the thing to keep the winter wind from blowing down the neck of my coat. I'm using some ultra-lux alpaca and silk chunky yarn for it that I bought at the after Christmas sale at my local yarn shop. I am seriously in love with this yarn and want to spend all day rubbing it against my cheek and cooing to it about how lovely it is. Soft, fuzzy and beautiful. I've ALMOST got David on board with the idea of backyard chickens, but I think he'll balk at a backyard alpaca.

Pin-Up Girls Embroidery

I've really been avoiding the disaster area of my studio for a few days now and I'm also desperately trying to stay warm without running the furnace constantly, so sitting in front of the fireplace under a blankie and doing some embroidery was the perfect activity for these blustery winter days. All the January  windstorms have found their way past our feeble attempts at weather-proofing. Last night there was a STIFF BREEZE in the bathroom. One that was strong enough to blow the curtains. And the window was shut tight. Oh how I love my hundred and 4 year old house! While keeping warm, I've completed a set of three pin-up girl embroideries which I plan to use as the centre panels on some cushions for the bedroom. When you make a terrible mistake and paint your bedroom Pepto pink all you can do is go for it and add as many girly and pink accessories as you can. Photos of the other two pin-up girls can be found on Flickr. I know the photos are terrible. I don't think I've seen the sun for days? Weeks? Maybe since November? I'm not sure - all I know is that it's DARK in here and all my photos are SLUDGY.

Caribbean Stole

This was the project I brought to Mexico with me. As you can see, not much work got done on it, but each time I've pulled it out to finish a few more rows while I have my tea this week I've been reminded of the time I spent working on this project in the shade of a palapa with the sea breeze in my hair, looking past my needles at the calm blue and green water off Puerto Morelos. The pattern is my own, based on a fishtail lace and the yarn was a worthwhile splurge - Handmaiden Blue Faced Leicester in a colourway that reminds me of the  sea. This is my first lace project and so far so good...I took the advice about using lots of stitch markers, but I'm living on the edge and have yet to put in a lifeline. It doesn't look like much now, but I've heard lace never does until it's blocked. Estimated time of finishing? I'm going to go with sometime in 2008. I'm not good at sticking to large projects and tend to get easily distracted by instant gratification knits.