So do you have one of those projects that you started forever ago but have never finished? And it's still hanging around, staring at you balefully? Well, I certainly do - it's my Cables & Os sweater from No Sheep For You.
I started this project in April of 2007. 4 years ago!
I remember loving the pattern when I got the book - it was so pretty. And I had a bunch of Cotlin, which I had bought for a different sweater that didn't work out. I also thought it was a perfect project for my first sweater on needles smaller than size 7.
Of course, working on size 2 and 4 needles with a bunch of cables makes very slow work, at least for me.
So I kept putting it down and finding other things to work on that gave me a more instant gratification. Then I decided it was too hot to work on in the summer. Then I moved to the East coast & packed it away, figuring I wasn't going to work on it in the car on the drive out, plus it was more of spring sweater anyway.
I picked it up the next spring & worked on it for awhile, but again, I kept getting distracted & putting it away. I really loved how it looked though!
Somehow it became the sweater I dug it back out every year & always had an excuse not to finish it. In 2009, I was back on the West coast, but I gained about 40lbs since I had first started it & was worried that it wouldn't fit! But by then I had put too much time into it and it was too pretty to frog so I sadly stuffed it back in my yarn cabinet & forgot about it.
When we started bringing out the new Cotlin colors this year, I was again was reminded of my poor sweater. I've lost a lot of weight since then, so I decided either I was going to finish the darn thing or frog it & find something else. So I pulled it back out last week & tackled it!
When I last hid it away, I had gotten partway through the right front (if you aren't familiar with the pattern, the body is knit in one piece from the bottom up) - you can see it in the picture above actually. Well since then, I've finished the entire body!
I'm now working on the sleeves, which certainly isn't my favorite part (also a reason I kept putting it away). I'm changing the pattern slightly so I'm doing them both at once in the round, to the arm pit. Because if I don't, who knows how long I'll put off seaming them up!
I really can't wait to wear this so I'm going to keep pushing through! Luckily by now I have the stitch pattern memorized so it's going much quicker. Think I'll finish it to wear it in May?
So do you have an old WiP that's been calling to you? What's your longest work in progress?
Apr 16, 2011 at 11:07 AM I am trying to find the Fancy Feet Anklets pattern...it seems that it is no longer published....is it available anywhere? TIA
Apr 16, 2011 at 7:33 AM My grandmother was always working on some kind of needlework, knitting, crocheting, embroidery, sewing. I was in my twenties when she died from pancreatic cancer. As the family was going through her trunk after the funeral, my aunts started passing out 1/2 finished projects to people and asking them to complete them. It made such an impression on me that I try to never start a project until one is finished. Right now I am redoing the sleeves on a cardigan that I purchased the yarn for 15 yrs ago. Cotton yarn does get softer when you re-knit it!
Apr 15, 2011 at 12:34 PM Among my many WIPs is an afghan I started for my daughter who was about a year old. It is a kit from Family Circle magazine. Done in afghan stitch in strips to be put toghether with a crochet lace pattern, it sat because I didn't know how to crochet. It also has flowers done in counted cross stitch which I still had not learned. The materials and pattern are there. My daughter is 41 this year. I hope to finish it and give it to her daughter before she gets married. (She is 7 now.)
Apr 15, 2011 at 7:43 AM I have a strip from an afghan my MIL started aeons ago. It went to Minnesota more than once; her son and daughter will attest to that. She can no longer knit; so I offered to finish it for her....while we are in Minnesota!! I am working on figuring out the pattern and if I need to go up or down a needle size to match what she had finished. (This is how looong ago--the company is long out of business, the yarn is a rather nice wool that cost all of $11.74 for 10 skeins!!) I told her to leave it to me in her will. She would love it finished.
Apr 15, 2011 at 6:13 AM When I was just learning to knit(early 2008), I started a "snuggle blanket" for my oldest daughter, using Caron Simply Soft and a furry eyelash yarn held together. It's very simple, just wide stripes of pink and purple, in seed stitch... but I realized I HATE working with eyelash yarn, and I strongly dislike working with acrylic, even a soft acrylic like SS. My daughter is now nine years old, and unlikely to actually use the blanket(which was going to be baby-blanket-size), but she won't let me forget I PROMISED. I may dig it out and finish the stripe I'm on, and tell her it is now a doll blanket. And give her the leftover yarn.
Apr 14, 2011 at 7:46 PM I knitted a Vogue coat that was to be full length but turned out to be mid thigh but was cute anyway ..so I decided to knit another one correctly ...... but the pattern takes so much thought, counting and time I keep putting it down...... in-between I have done about 15 other knitted projects I wish I would just get it done already.I have the back and left front done 1/2 of the right front completed with sleeves to go. And now I just got out yarn to knit my grandson gloves....one day soon...hopefully
Apr 14, 2011 at 1:27 PM Oh, UFO/WIP guilt - I haz it. More with my needlework than my knitting - some of those unfinished needlework projects and quilts date back over a decade, two decades for the quilts! And since unstarted projects are by definition NOT UFOs, we will not mention the slubby grey cotton that has been in the stash since about 1980. The oldest knitting project in progress is probably my Shetland Shawl. It's one of Sharon Miller's designs and I have the center finished. I'm intimidated by the border. I MUST conquer this, as I have the materials and have done some swatching for another, even finer, Shetland Shawl - doing just the middles isn't exactly a good plan. The most frustrating one, though, is a vest that only needs the neck and arm ribbings. I have about 15 ends to run in and then it should be quick to pick up and knit simple K1P1 rib, but it just sits in the project box mocking me as it has for over a year now. I love the color, it's a beautiful heathery olive green flecked with black, darkest red and tan - just my perfect colors. I know what my problem is on it; the majority of the piece was knit while I was the primary caregiver for my mother in her last weeks at home under the care of hospice. This has happened to me before - the project I was working on when my dad died took me four years to get back to, and the one that I was working on when I became a widow is still one of those needlework UFOs mentioned above. But Mom was a knitter, and she would be disappointed if it continues to languish.
Apr 14, 2011 at 9:31 AM I have inherited several works in progress. One is older than I am (42) and I suspect it may be from the 1950's.
Apr 14, 2011 at 8:13 AM I have been working on a hoodie for about 6 months now. It has turned into my in-between projects project. It is also heavily cabled and done on size 5's. So it's a bit fussy for my tastes.
Apr 14, 2011 at 6:26 AM I "inherited" my mom's handwork stuff, and in an oval project box were 10 completed crochet squares for a bedspread in teensy ecru. I had the idea to learn the technique and finish the project, alas I never did. These were started nearly 50 years ago. I know I'll not match the thread (have the binding strips) but could use a contrast color for a base and work these in ( I did purchase a book on filet crochet about 6 mos ago and am working on learning (finally) the technique. ) I need to finish it, if I don't and it get passed to my daughter, who knows what will happen...wonder what else I could make out of those completed squares?...MEA CULPA!I've had em 45 years!
Apr 13, 2011 at 6:45 PM What a great question! And what a beautiful green! On one set of needles is a gorgeous (and expensive) lace shawl that I started early last year. Every time I open my closet, it's quietly sitting there ...but I now have two other projects (big ones!) that I just have to finish. I'm working on an afghan that I'm passionate about (crocheted flowers) and trying my hand at felted clogs (on my!). : D
Apr 13, 2011 at 2:16 PM Oh wow, reading some of the responses have made me feel so much better about my own wip guilt. Because lately I've really felt bad that I didn't finish my EMW bag, which was a gift. I kept putting it aside in favor of something else I could learn from, because I caught onto the techniques in the first month I started it, because Kerin did such a wonderful job on the pattern. But it's only been just over a year. I guess I just need to relax, because I'm not the only knitter who seems to have long term wip issues, and I guess it would be abnormal if I didn't have them :)
Apr 13, 2011 at 1:51 PM I LOVE THAT GREEN! The sweater is gorgeous. Keep plugging away! I have the gorgeous Jeanie pattern in Malibrigo Lace that has gone into time out. It's just too fiddly for me right now.
Apr 13, 2011 at 1:51 PM I have a stitich sampler blanket I was making for my mom over eight or nine years ago. I was almost finished with it and stopped. I can't seem to finish it. It's the project from hell! My sister never finished her Dr. Roboto Kit project. UFO's are all over my house.
Apr 13, 2011 at 1:41 PM I have a pinup girl sweater from...yikes, that issue of Interweave came out in 2003! It just needs one sleeve sewn in but after I sewed the first one in I hated the way it looked an lost all motivation. I honestly just want permission to throw it in the trash, I'm so over it!
Apr 13, 2011 at 1:27 PM I have a tank top that I started 4 years ago, both front and back are fully knitted, just need to seam it and finish the ribbing for the neckline and armholes. Hmm, maybe I will dig it out and finish, I love the yarn, Jo Sharp cotton in a maroon.
Apr 13, 2011 at 1:13 PM I made a cabled afghan for my sister and it sat on idle on a pair of needles for 5 years. I did finish it and give it her this past Christmas. Now she wants stockings....
Apr 13, 2011 at 12:36 PM I have a baby dress n a scraf on WiP and but working a shawl for a friend.
Apr 13, 2011 at 12:23 PM Nearly every project on my needles right now is an UFO. Well, close, anyway. I have a Wrapigan and a Horned Owl doll I started several years ago, a top I started almost a year ago, and a shawl I started for a friend years ago that is likely to be frogged soon as it's just not going well.
Apr 13, 2011 at 12:03 PM I have numerous pairs of socks with about 1 1/2 finished for each pair - for whatever reason I never get back to finishing them - it has been about 3 years now -- still thinking about it --
Apr 13, 2011 at 11:09 AM I started an afghan when my children were toddlers. It was done in separate strips. When the kids were in high school, I passed out the strips to them saying they were scarves! lol
Apr 13, 2011 at 10:42 AM I've recently retrieved from the basement a toddler sweater I started 20 years ago! And I have only one sleeve to do! I have no idea why I didn't finish it then but now I can give it to my granddaughter. It's a Penny Straker design in the gansey style with hearts at the yoke and it's in red cotton by Unger. Remember Unger?
Apr 13, 2011 at 10:17 AM This is a great post! Thanks Stacey! I decided to learn how to knit last year after about 20 years of crocheting. I hunted down my stash and found a number of projects waiting to be finished. One is a complicated filet crochet swing jacket/sweater that is almost completed, all I would need to do is knit the yoke and sleeves (which I would do instead of crochet). I would wing it, but I really don't want to waste all that hard work by creating something that isn't wearable. I'd really appreciate any advice you guys could offer. THANKS! ~Natasha, determined to upcycle my old crochet wip!
Apr 13, 2011 at 10:13 AM I have a baby blanket for my newphew I started when my sis told me she was pregnant. He'll be 4 next month.... haha. But I'm a really slow knitter and gave up knitting totally for about a year. Had a private lesson recently and she found some things I was doing to make it much slower than it needed to be so that helped. I need to finish it for his birthday, haha.
Apr 13, 2011 at 10:02 AM I took my daughter yarn shopping when I was in Portland for Christmas when my granddaughter was 9 months old. THIS YEAR, when my granddaughter has turned six!!! - I decided that the reason I was not finishing it was because I hated the yarn - a Rowan Aran yarn that felt like I was knitting with twine. So I purchased new yarn and have started it again with much better success. I'm hoping to get it to her at least in time for the cool fall of Portland!
Apr 13, 2011 at 10:00 AM Stacey ... I love it! I'm a green fanatic AND love cables, so what's not to love? I really try to avoid starting a project before the current one is done. But so many folks have been having babies (requiring the hand-made gift from me, of course) that I keep putting aside a couple of things to do those. I think I have 5 projects going at once right now .... I NEVER do that! Hopefully it won't take me quite as long to finish those as your sweater ...
Apr 13, 2011 at 9:22 AM I had a baby sweater that sat in a box, partially finished, for the better part of 5 years, or so. I have tried to not ever let anything like that happen again!