Round the World Blog Hop (part 1)
The lovely Helen over at Woolly Bluebells told me about an ‘around the world blog hop’, where bloggers of various craft persuasions have been nominating friends to create a trail of blogs from around the world. I’ve found lots of lovely blogs to read as a result, and now I’ve been nominated by Helen to add my own contribution! I’ve decided to split the questions up into separate posts, so as not to bombard everyone with too much text all in one go. The first question is about Works in Progress (WiPs), and that’s when I realised it was going to be a long one…
1. What am I working on?
Oh god… too much. No, not too much, just a lot. I get excited by a lot of things, and time and work often get in the way of their completion. First up in this navy blue garter stitch cardigan that i’m working on, and have actually very nearly finished:
Then there’s the mood scarft project, which I started with the girls from knit club (I wrote an update on it a while back, here). However, I’m struggling with this a bit and I’ve been pondering why. I think partly I don’t feel so challenged by it and it’s not the most 'exciting’ project that I have on the go at the moment (as in, it’s just a scarf, and that’s something I’ve done before). I also don’t think I like the way that the crochet is looking; it’s quite loose, and I don’t feel like I’d actually wear it. I love the concept, but I’ve found it very hard to stick to - despite really wanting to! My motivation and inspiration comes in fits and spurts, and as a result my mood scarf has suffered! I think I’m going to start again, but knit it, and on smaller needles so it’s tighter. I might also use one of my favourite books, Pop Knitting (see previous post!), to try out some new stitches to keep me interested.
Then there’s my crochet blanket. I love this project and it’s kept me company on many-a train journey. I’m still going, and am currently sewing in all the ends. I’ve got about 20 more squares to crochet before I hit the total, and I may even decide to make it a bit bigger than the pattern states, depending on how it looks when I lay it out.
Then there’s some sewing projects, of which the closest to completion is this By Hand London Anna Dress. This one was meant to be just a toile, as it’s made out of an old pair of curtains, but it actually fits almost perfectly and I really like it. Just got the bottom hem to do, and then I’ll be taking some more pictures and posting it up! There are a whole lot of lovely Anna dresses out there in the sewing blog world, should anyone else be interested - Pinterest is probably the best place to start!
Then there’s my giant crochet pouffe, which is one of my favourite things ever. I can’t wait to have it ready for the new house! I’m just collecting things to stuff it with so I can finally finish it off! It’s amazing how much material (old blankets, curtains, anything!) it needs to fill it. It started life as a kit designed by Ingrid Wagner, which I received for Christmas last year.
My longest WiP has to be either my Year Abroad scrapbook (any other linguists have that same problem?!) or my patchwork quilt. My scrapbook is all planned out; the photos are in separate labelled packets, I wrote down the dates and places of everything in there, and have all my tickets etc saved in a plastic folder. I started sticking in the photos in during my final year of university (well, final year of undergraduate…), so 2010, and four years later, I haven’t made it out of Spain (I was in Jerez de la Frontera from Sept 2009 to Jan 2010, then I moved to Yaroslavl’ in Russia for four months, before heading back to Spain again in June to defrost). I MUST finish this, because I will love it so much when it’s done! This is one of the many hundreds of photos that will eventually go in: me at a bus stop in Yaroslavl’, Russia, March 2009:
And finally (I think…), my patchworl quilt. I’m really fond of it, but for some reason I got out of the habit of hand sewing and I haven’t got back into it for ages. I must store it somewhere more visible, so I’m reminded to do a little bit now and again. I collected material from all the different places I went to, both in Spain and Russia but also on other holidays, and it’s a patchwork of all the places I’ve visited. In that respect, it’s nice that it’s so on-going, but I also really ought to finish it, so it can finally be shown off, and not sat folded in a bag in my wardrobe. Sorry, quilt.
I feel like there must be many more things lurking somewhere, but those are my main Works in Progress. I’d love to see what everyone else has in their queue! There’ll be more questions (and my nominations!) to follow soon - next up, reaching my 'actual work’ word count!