W.I.P.

Warning: A not so polite word will be pictured below.

As one of my favorite Flickr friends, cauchy09, says, (You should take a look at her many splendid and inspirational things.)
“I am a W.I.P.”

For those of you non or beginning crafters and hobby enthusiasts, this means, work in progress.

Here are some things I am working on right now.

Earlier I wrote about the adorable 28Thirty and I have been working on this and can’t wait to finish. I am 4 rows away from separating the sleeves from the body so I can try it on! Yay!

If you are wondering how on earth this will turn into a button up sweater, let me try to explain the sections. You may realize it is not as complicated as you previously thought and give you the courage to try knitting. Once it clicked for me, I was thrilled.
You just have to imagine the left edge and the right edge being curved around a cylinder so that they meet.

We are looking from the top down and left to right and at the top all the way across, you have the collar. It is the entire top part with the “stripes”. Buttonholes are on the left. The collar for this one is particularly tall.

Then the stripes stop going all the way across. The leftmost section that is solid is the section that will lie across the left breast side. To the right of it, you have a triangular section with stripes again. This is the left sleeve.  The top of it, which is the skinniest, lies a top the shoulder and the rest wraps around the upper part of the arm. Think of that little section, all by itself, wrapping around a cylinder again.
Then the very middle, which is solid again, is the back. When the stripes start up again, you have the right sleeve, and then the right front again. I hope that helps. It may also help to imagine the back of someone wearing a sweater. The middle of the picture above is their back.

My second W.I.P. I plan on finishing today and then, probably, immediately make another. I am working on those wicked cute bloomers from Colette Patterns! I am so happy the pattern is so simple even a clothing sewing buffoon like me can make them. Really folks. I’ve said before, sewing clothing for me is like playing chess. I simply can’t think far enough ahead to end up with a clean result. I feel like you have to plan every move all the way to the end and I just can’t do it but these are a gift!

the fabric and ivory ribbon for another pair a bit more romantic:

I previously made this for my tattoo artist’s studio. He loved it and it looks fantastic on the wall over the toilet.

He has a buddy who commissioned me to do a piece for his bar. He was adamant about it looking very “Granny-ish” so I chose some mauve and hunter greens and what not. I will add more flowers to the left and right of the wording later.

I am also working on making some fascinators.

I actually used to make and wear them when I went through my first phase of “I want to wear more skirts and dresses and look pretty and not wear jeans all the time” but I got funny looks. Imagine that they are popular again. Hmph. I want to make one to wear to my rehearsal dinner.

I finished knitting my first pair of sucks…I mean SOCKS. Funny, they seemed like torture and you want to know what I did as soon as I finished them? I got excited to start a new pair for myself.  I attribute it to how incredibly beautiful this yarn is…or I am a glutton for punishment. Really, I am just very determined.

All of this in addition to planning my wedding which is 30 days away, thinking about moving to a new state in the summer and trying to be a good woman to my better man, so I ask friends, where does it end?! Do you give yourself a limit? I think I tend to give myself more of a “specific project limit”. I only allow myself two knitting projects, one sewing project, two embroidery and one cross stitch. I don’t count the numerous other crafts I tend to tack on when something tickles my fancy. What about you? Are you stern with yourself and finish each one before beginning a new one or lenient and overwhelmed with strings and things?

As long as you’re having fun and making the world a little prettier, I guess it doesn’t matter, eh?