WiPs on Wednesday

Today I am travelling to my mum’s place. She is having the cataract removed from her other eye on Friday and I am going to be with her until Monday. Please pray that it doesn’t rain in or near the township of Moree like it did last year! You may remember that we became trapped by floodwaters for several days in November last year.

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I am slowly working through the long list of WiPs that I published in June and July but the list just seems to get longer as new projects somehow find their way into my craft room! In fact, only two of the seven projects listed here are on that list!

The things that I am concentrating on this month are:

1. The Very Hungry Caterpillar quilt
2. Christmas Tree wall-hanging
3. Cardigan for Me
4. Deb’s Diamond Blanket
5. Merlot Toe Up Sock
6. hexagon project bag
7. Scrappy Rainbow improv quilt

I don’t know if I’ll get any time to work on that last item. Being away from home for nearly a week plus Christmas activities plus family visiting will cut into my crafting time. Some of these items will not be finished in December: this is just my “focus group”!

Very Hungry Caterpillar Quilt
I am making this quilt for my niece who is expecting her first child in March/April. I just have to sew down the binding and add a label and it will be done! I've not labelled my quilts before: tell me please, what does one write on the label when one doesn’t know the name or the sex of the baby, or even which parent’s surname he/she will have? I guess I could just write “Made with love by Great-Aunty Lynne 2012”. Thoughts?

There is no stain on the quilt top – that is the light shining through the dotty fabric on the back. You can see the backing here if you haven’t seen it before.

Christmas Tree Wall-Hanging
It would be really good if I could get this finished and hanging before Christmas. You have seen these three embroideries separately but here they are all together. The one on the right is the one I finished today.


Cardigan for Me
After much deliberation over patterns, I have chosen to knit the Westall Cardigan (Ravelry link) for me! As I said in this post, I had a bit of trouble getting gauge, which is nothing unusual for me. I finally got within half a stitch using 3.00mm needles instead of the recommended 3.5mm. For those who don’t knit, there are a lot of consequences to not getting the gauge right – the size of garment can be dramatically altered and a loosely knitted garment can stretch beyond redemption after being washed. On the other hand, a garment which is knitted too tightly will strain and pull, and the knitted fabric could pill and wear out much more quickly than would otherwise happen. Worst of all, after hours of knitting and tens of thousands of stitches, it might not fit its intended wearer!

This particular pattern has an unusual construction; it is knitted from the top down, back first then both fronts at once; all three pieces are then joined below the armholes and the rest of the garment is knitted in one piece. It has a gorgeous lace pattern which is relatively simple to knit. This is how much I have knitted since I cast on last Tuesday (27 November). I am up to the armhole shaping of the back and will then go back and pick up the stitches for both fronts from the provisional cast on (that light blue yarn at the bottom of the photo).

 Deb’s Diamond Blanket
After taking twelve months to knit the Intarsia Blanket, I have designed my next blanket project. It is called Deb’s Diamond Blanket and was inspired by this string quilt made by my friend Debbie at Stitchin’ Therapy blog.

My knitted design calls for 112  x 5” (12.5cm) squares which I will join as I go (and sew the ends in – I learnt my lesson from the last blanket). This is how much I have knitted since I started the project on 21 November.  This will be a ten inch square when completed. (3 down, 109 to go!)

 Merlot Toe Up Socks
Neither of my two large knitting projects are ideal for travelling or for knitting in company so I have cast on the second Merlot Sock to take with away with me. I cast on for the first one in September 2011 and would have finished it within a couple of weeks! I wondered why I had put it off for so long but I soon realised while doing Judy’s Magic Cast On on 2.25 (US 1) double-pointed needles -- I don’t like doing this cast on this way. It’s easier on circular needles – but my sock knitting circular needles are otherwise occupied. Obviously I did get it done in the end but it was tricky and annoyingly difficult. Either I’ll use my circulars or stick to cuff down socks for donation knitting in future!

For those who wonder about such things, I am doing 72 stitches and an hourglass heel (from Lynne Vogel's Twisted Sisters' Sock Workbook)

 Hexagon Project Bag
It seems like a long time since I started my Hexagon Project Bag with so much enthusiasm – a quick check of my blog shows that was only September but it feels much longer ago than that. I still need to cut out six pentagons (I didn’t realise that until yesterday) and six half hexagons and tack them down. Yesterday my sewing teacher showed me hoe to join the hexagons so I’ll see how much weight I have in my bag – if I have enough room I can take them as they’ll make a nice change from knitting. There are 36 hexagons in this photo, believe it or not!

Do you like my storage container? For what purpose would one use an old 70’s Tupperware container with a cracked lid if not for craft storage? LOL

The bottom two hexagons are the two my teacher joined as a demonstration.

Scrappy Rainbow Improv Quilt
I have more than enough improv blocks to make a quilt top and have bought some fabric to use as sashing – solids in natural and sand; I can't decide which to use yet till I get the blocks up on the design wall. I enjoy the improv block process so I will be making more I’m sure! They also make a good “leader and ender” project (if I ever remember!).

There are 99 x 6.5” blocks in this pile! I'm not sure where the red ones are hiding!


What are you working on? Do you still have projects you need to finish before Christmas?

Hopefully linking up with WIP Wednesday over at FreshlyPieced blog