March WIPs

As this blog has evolved and I’ve been making more of an effort to work on something each day and see projects through to the end, I’ve increasingly posted about finished projects. With limited time for blogging and taking photographs, it makes sense to focus on what’s done. But I do miss talking about works in progress, so I thought I’d try popping in around the turn of each month to share what’s on my crafting table.

Knitting WIPs

My sweater project is Georgetown, and it’s nearing the finish line! So far, I’ve knit the back, both fronts, and one sleeve, which means I have a sleeve and a big shawl collar to go. To be honest, I was hoping for something a bit more luxurious, but I kept coming back to this workhorse yarn in a heathered gray at the LYS. Don’t mind the rolling in this photo–all of the pieces are stockinette and haven’t been blocked or seamed, so they really want to roll in on themselves. I’m so excited for this sweater to be finished! It’s been a nice, fairly mindless project to knit, and it’s going to be so snuggly to wear. I’m using Cascade 220 for this project.
Lilli Pilli, a beautiful shawl that combines garter stripes and lace, is my other big project at the moment. I’m knitting this one as part of a KAL, and I’ve fallen a bit behind on it. I joined my husband to eat enormous amounts of melted cheese watch the superbowl, and I guess I was a bit overzealous in my knitting, because I had some lasting wrist problems from working on Lilli Pilli. I had to step away from the knitting for a while, and I’ve transferred all of my projects over to bamboo needles that are easier on my hands. I think that this one will be easier on me when I’m back to garter stitch, though I have no idea why this particular lace pattern is bothering me since there aren’t any stitches in it that have bothered me before. It’s a real shame because I just love the Three Irish Girls colorway I’m using for the lace portion, and I spent the entire garter section thinking about how neat it would be once I added the pop of color.
When I took this picture the other day, this project wasn’t even a WIP, but it is now! I’m on a bit of a sock knitting adventure that I’ll explain another time, and this Arne & Carlos yarn in a cheery orange is for my latest pair. I’ve heard that some colorways of Arne and Carlos can be difficult to find, but my LYSs in both Duluth and Pittsburgh had a decent stock. These will be pretty plain vanilla socks with my first try at a Spacious OMG heel. I’m just past the heel turn, so they are cruising along.

Sewing WIPs

I am once again attempting a Pattern Review Wardrobe Contest, which requires ten items sewn in two months. I dug around in my stash, and luckily enough, most of the fabric I had set aside for work garments can go together (at least well enough) for a capsule wardrobe. I’m also behind on this challenge, so there’s a good chance I won’t finish, but at least I’ll get some of these projects sewn up and in my closet.

On the right is my TNT shirt pattern in a blue gingham, and on the left is a new-to-me shirt pattern in a Robert Kaufman lawn. I have to say, sewing fitted buttondowns for myself really makes me appreciate how quickly I can make a shirt for my husband when I don’t have to deal with all of this shaping. The floral shirt has princess seams in front and back, and the gingham shirt has a total of eight darts, so it takes much longer to assemble the body of the shirt, especially when using french seams.
I haven’t forgotten about my coat just yet! Lady Grey is puttering along at its own pace. It doesn’t look like much, but I’ve done a bit of the tailoring so far, and I’m ready to get to work pad stitching the collar. I find working on this project really enjoyable when I’m doing it, but it often gets passed up for projects that will be finished and worn more quickly. I have a feeling that this one won’t be done until it’s too late in the season to get any wear out of it, but as long as it’s out of my sewing room, I’m happy.

That’s the gist of it around here. I hope you enjoyed this little peek into my WIP pile, and I’ll check in again next month. Hopefully all of these will be FOs by then!

 

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