Guys, I’m having a pity party over here. I have three WiPs (which I recognise is nothing, by some people’s standards) and they’re all winding me up.
I usually like to have two projects on the go, so I’m only one over. But they feel oppressive. I’m being bullied by my own past (and present) choices.
I think partly I’m just low on knitting energy. I’ve been putting a lot into my health and fitness for the last four months – does anyone else feel like that’s a full time job?! I’m working with a trainer and she’s amazing – supportive, understanding and the first person to tell me not to be hard on myself. If you’re in Glasgow and need someone to help you, check out Empowering Exercise. I really enjoy working with her and I’m genuinely enjoying getting stronger and healthier. I never thought that would be possible!
Naturally, some of the energy I would previously put into knitting has been diverted for those things. And it’s energy, not time, that’s the challenge. Bandwidth, you might say. The things I’ve made recently have been for other people, too, which is lovely and fulfilling but hits different to a passion project, you know?
Anyway let’s have a look at these WiPs.
This is my third Promenade and would you look how close it is to being done? I could probably cast it off right now, but my intent is to finish off the lace yarn. It’ll possibly be more of a tunic, which I’m into. So I’ve made a choice there, making it longer, which means the project is taking longer to finish. And also… the ends, holy moly. What a thought.
If I never finish the knitting, I never have to deal with the ends, right?
Next is Céleste, which is also a project for myself, and a homemade souvenir from my trip to Belgium. I’ve lined the pieces up to show the distance yet to go on the second side. In summary: there’s ABSOLUTE MILES left and it will never be done.
It’s a nice simple stockinette knit, which is ideal for some occasions and/or states of mind. It’s not especially portable as it’s coming from one giant skein (but there will be fewer ends this way, which is great!). It will need seamed, not my fave, and of course there’s sleeve island to contend with. I like the idea of wearing this oversized jumper and remembering my Belgium trip every time I put it on… but not enough to motivate me to work seriously on it.
Finally, we have Rave Sleeves, a gift for G. I’ve been working on this sleeve for the last week or so, have made very little progress and LOOK, there’s two mistakes in the pattern on that sleeve. I knew there were mistakes throughout and agreed with G that these would simply give a certain punk aesthetic… but looking at it now I’m ready to unravel the lot. Also on their second try-on this week they now think it might be a bit short in the body. If it wasn’t for someone else I’d definitely be frogging. I think this is the worst one of the lot – probably because I feel trapped by it. I didn’t chose the project, and I’m trying to force it to be right for the tape yarn, just for the sake of using it up. I’m mulling over whether to buy some different yarn (that I wouldn’t have to hold double), and saying that I’m giving up on it but secretly making a new-yarn version as a Christmas present.
So… do I feel differently after taking stock and writing this post?
A little bit, actually. I’ll sleep on it before deciding but I do think trying Rave Sleeves in a different yarn might be a better choice. And Promenade really is so close to being done, laying it out made that really obvious. I’m still feeling a bit demotivated by the lot of them though…
How do you manage the WiP woes? Any tips?
The Crafty Yarnster 