W.I.P. Wednesday

 Time for another update on my Work in Progress.  Sometimes I feel like I will never finish this.  BUT, I'm at the half-way mark finally - whoo hoo!!

So, here is my half-way finished Around the World Blanket. - How does it look so far?

The color is a little off because of where I took the photo, the colors are much more vibrant in person

These are the skeins I have remaining.  Do you think it will be enough to finish it?  I'm still a bit nervous of running out.  Obviously, I need more black, but luckily that is one color that wasn't discontinued (and black and whites are never discontinued unless the entire brand is).

I hope I have enough.

W.I.P. Wednesday

 Well, I've made some progress on my old W.I.P.

Please ignore the kitty accessories and the cardboard shreds on the floor, that's just life with cats. You can vacuum daily and if you have scratch posts or toys, you are going to have cardboard shreds on the floor within minutes. 

I added the center so I'd have a good reference and would work towards that because after the center, the colors start working kind of backwards.  

Good news, I hope, I was looking at the original pattern and it only called for 8 oz. of each color, so I'm a little more encouraged that I will have enough yarn after all.  My skeins are 7 oz. so it will be really cutting it close and I mean really cutting it close.  I pray I have enough.

The pattern also indicated to make the squares one by one and attached them by sewing together but I thought that would be a LOT of sewing together so I am doing a join as you go method and I don't really know if that will take less or more yarn, seems like it would take more, but I just don't know.  I guess I will find out eventually.

Wish me luck, I'm going to need it 😄 

 

W.I.P. Wednesday

I've been working my Trip Around the World (TATW) Afghan but don't have a photo this week.  I want to wait until I get a tiny bit further along but have made some progress.

I mentioned last week that I have started a "take along" project that I can work on when on the go, like to the Sip & Stitch meetings.  I only went to the Crochet Connections in Tucker and worked about an hour and then went to the Sip & Stitch and was there about 90 minutes or so.  I have already almost 1/2 of my cardigan though.  It works up rather quikly.

The TATW Afghan isn't as fast became I'm making tiny squares that I switch the color every square and this cardigan is all one color.  I've gotten many compliments on the color and I admit to myself, I think it is really pretty.

W.I.P. Wednesday

I know, I know!  I said I would not start a new project until my old UFO was completed BUT hear me out.

The Trip Around The World Afghan is huge and I needed a small project to work on when I’m on the go, like at the car dealership or our weekly Sip & Stitch.  The Afghan requires me to carry 13 skeins around and it not feasible to do that…so this Cabana Granny Shirt, only requires one color & one skein (ball) of yarn at a time so it’s the perfect “on the go” project.

I didn’t buy new yarn (already had it) and the pattern is free…so no new investment. 

I’m still working on my Afghan (although I haven’t done much this past week so no updated photos) but it is still my primary project.  I’ll just work on this new one, when I need to take a smaller project with me.

Also, I did another thing outside my comfort zone.  I went to another craft group (Crochet Connections at the Tucker Rec Center) - there were like 25 people there.  I only met really 2 people (Maddie and Mickey) and no one actually reached out to welcome me...they seemed to be in their only little groups.  Not sure I will go back, but it is only 1 hour once a month, so it is dedicated crochet time.

W.I.P. Wednesday

Well, I started this project a long, long time ago..I’m fact, almost 15 years ago.  I still remember picking out the yarn at Hobby Lobby and was excited about the project.  Looking back, I wished I would have picked up 2 skeins of each color but at the time, I could only afford 1 of each.  I mean there are 13 colors and even it the yarn was on sale, that's still a lot of money at one time.  Of course, I thought I would be able to go back and get more when I needed it, but life took a turn.

Unlike my old Flower Power Blanket, I know why I stopped working on it.  First, after Thatcher died, it was a long time that I could even pick up a crochet hook and this was my first project I started on about 5 1/2 years after he died.  I worked on it a couple of months, then my dad got sick and about 4 months later, he died and once again, I just wasn’t in a place where I could crochet.  

I was really down and didn't really know how to move forward and was not interested and about 22 months later, I was in a horrible car accident, then my brother died 2 days later.  I couldn’t have crocheted with my broken body if I wanted to and my broken heart made it even harder.

When years passed & I finally started thinking about crochet again, so much time had passed that I discovered the yarn I was using for this project had been discontinued and I didn’t think I had enough to finish it, so I hesitated getting back to it.

Honestly, I still don’t think I have enough yarn, but I’m in the year of “completion” so I am going to try and hope if I do run out, I can find some kind of close colors in another brand.  

Anyway, wish me luck…Here’s where I’m restarting:

I'm about 40% finished. 

 

W.I.P. Wednesday

I'm almost done with my Flower Power Afghan, but not quite.  I should be finished by tomorrow.

I'm on the border now and there are 5 rows of border and working around a big afghan takes a while but it is coming along quicker than I thought.

Then I can move on the the older WIP I have. 

 

 

W.I.P. Wednesday

 

I can’t believe today is Wednesday! This week feels like it is going so fast to me. 

I’ve gotten a lot done on my afghan. I have about 4 more colored rows to go (so about 24 more rows, I think) then to add the border. 

We are supposed to have ice this weekend and as long as my power hold out, maybe I’ll finish my afghan, that is…if I can keep kitty cats off my lap and afghan.

W.I.P. Wednesday

It's been a while since I've posted a Work In Progress Wednesday update.

So, I've been working on my Flower Power Crochet Blanket and it is coming along.  It is hard to work on it when kitty cats want attention but I'm almost 67% done.

 

Flower Power Blanket - Take 2

I finally started my first UFO - which isn't my oldest one, but I am really surprised that it was started almost 4 years ago (May 2022).  I really don't know why I set it aside because I enjoyed making it...I guess I just got into making prayer shawls and knitting hats for cancer patients and the homeless and didn't really give time to me...but now I'm back to it.

It has been so long that I sort of forgotten where I left off in the pattern and it took me a while to find my place so I could begin and finally I located it.  Then I had realized I forgotten exactly how to do the flowers and grass so that was a little learning curve on the first couple of flowers but I quickly got back into the swing of it and I'm on a roll!!  

W.I.P. - A thought

 

 

I don't recall if I mentioned it here before but on January 14th of this year, a very sweet and wonderful lady that I knew passed away.  She also happened to be the owner of my favorite (and in my opinion the best)  yarn shop! 

For sake of privacy, I will not mention her name or any other identifying information about her.

I started going to her shop in the 1980s, when it was a needlepoint and cross stitch store.  Over the years, needlepoint and cross stitch grew less popular and the owner's interest also started shifting more towards knitting, so over time, the shop eventually became a combination of the needle art and yarn until it mostly developed until a yarn shop.

I do miss the needlepoint and cross stitch supplies but always loved the yarn shop.   She had such a beautiful selection and I could always get yarn there, that I couldn't find anywhere else, including my favorite Malabrigo! You also have to remember this was way before the days of the internet where you could order online.

At any rate, every time  you walked into the store, she greeted you with a smile and she was always knitting something.  She was such a talented knitter and like me, loved the color purple, so many of her knitted items had purple in it somewhere (not all but many of them did).

In early January, she contracted shingles.  She was telling people (through Facebook) how awful it was and she was strongly encouraging those that hadn't gotten the vaccine to get it.  Then a couple of days later, her daughter announced that she had passed away from complications brought on from shingles.  I was in complete and utter shock! I still am.  I miss her smiling face and I'm so glad that her daughters decided to keep the yarn shop running.  Not for the customer's benefit, but for their mother's honor because it was such a passion of hers.

At any rate...

I was on Ravelry yesterday and was thinking about her and decided to look at her Ravelry projects and I found that she had 4 Works in Progress (WIP) listed.  It made me rather sad to think she had left so many projects unfinished.  She may have had more that she didn't even have listed. (I told you she liked purple) :) 

A few month's after her passing, her daughter posted this message on Facebook.

 

 

 

I was happy to see she still did Needlepoint, but again, sad that it was left unfinished.  How sweet that her daughter finished it for her.  I'm hoping one of her daughters also finished her knitting projects.

It lead me to thinking about my own WIPs.

 

 

As you can see, it appears that I have 6 of them.  That isn't entirely the case.  The one listed as NAPC Prayer Shawl is more like a place holder.  I haven't actually started that one but I found a pattern I want to use on a prayer shawl so I set up the project to remember the pattern I want to use for the next shawl.  

But still, I have 5 WIPs !! FIVE !!  

Now, the Chemo Cap 2, I just started 2 days ago.  The reason...I have 4 hats completed and when I turn them in, I want to turn in 5 so I decided to start this hat so I would have 5 to turn in (hopefully this weekend).

The NAPC Prayer Shawl 9 was a project I started at my mom's on a visit but decided to set it aside to just visit with mom so I really only have 2 rows done, but still, I have the yarn and I have technically started it.

the NAPC Prayer Shawl 6 is one I started several months ago and honestly, I'm not liking how its turning out.  I sat it aside to kind of think about if I really want to continue this.  I don't know if it is the design or the yarn I'm not loving, maybe a combination of both.  But I think its about 50-60% done so I most likely will complete it.  It is being made with yarn that was donated to our church.

The Flower Power Blanket.  I actually picked this up about 2 months ago to get back to finishing it.  I really like the pattern and the blanket, but I swear....every time I get it out, the kitty cats decide that is cuddle time.  It's a big project with lots of different colors and skeins of yarn at play, so its not easy to work on when kitties are in your lap.  Plus...kitties are only with me for so long so when they want attention, I give it to them.  They have a higher priority than crochet does.

Now the Around the World Crochet Quilt.  I have several reasons that this hasn't been completed.  This is by far my oldest WIP.  I really, really, really want to finish it but....I'm afraid I will not have enough yarn to complete it and sadly, I can no longer find the colors so I don't think it will be possible to complete it.  I can't even find colors that are close to these!!  I wish I had bought more yarn at the time...However, it has 13 different colors and at the time, I couldn't afford to buy 26 skeins of  yarn.  I thought I would buy one of each color and then go back later and buy more when I needed it.  Unfortunately, the colors were discontinued before I knew it.  I 'might' have enough to finish it, but I doubt it.  Plus, this is a HUGE project. When I work on it, I need to spread out because I'm constantly changing colors.  I started this before I had 2 kitty cats and I wish I had finished it before they came into my life. 

I say all this for one main reason.  I don't want to die with 5 (or 6) WIPs.  A person should only have 1 WIP at a time.  I used to be that person.  I don't know when I developed crafting ADD and started new projects before finishing others, but it is clear that I do that now.

So....here is the plan.

1) Finish chemo cap by September 7th ~ COMPLETED

2) Finish NAPC Prayer Shawl 9 by September 14th - COMPLETED 

3) Finish NAPC Prayer Shawl 6 by September 30th

4) Christmas present (new)  - finish by October 31st - COMPLETED

4) Finish Flower Power Blanket by November 30th

5) Work on the Around the World Crochet Blanket and hopefully finish if I can find yarn that kind of matches (if needed). 

As for NAPC Prayer Shawl (the one I haven't started but is a place holder).  I'm putting that off for a bit, since I haven't really actually started it.  I'd like to move it to my queue instead of putting it as a WIP but I can't because the pattern isn't on Ravelry so I have to make it a WIP so I can put the pattern link in the notes section.  You can't do that with your queue. This will probably be my first 2025 project.

I am allowing myself to start ONE new project that I am making for a Christmas gift and so I must start that in October.  It is not very big and is crochet so it shouldn't take me to long to make that. I KNOW I wasn't going to start anything new before finishing my WIPs but since this is a Christmas gift, I do need to give it a priority.

I have 2 things in my queue that I really want to make.  One is a garment, and one is an afghan.  I'm itching to start them but those will just need to wait until 2025.  I don't want to do that, but I certainly don't need to start another project until the others are completed. 

I was asked to participate in a dishcloth swap and I really wanted to do that, but the deadline is September 30th and since I'm determined to finish my WIPs, then I will simply have to pass on that this year...boo hoo! At least it is an annual thing so I can participate next year.