Most crafters know the excitement of starting a new project. You buy your materials, get your pattern or design one and begin. There is nothing more satisfying.
Some projects are quick to complete and some take a very long time. No matter which type you are doing you are bound to end up with the crafters curse, too many wips(works in progress).
A friend of mine used to tease me about this. She took up knitting a few years ago and now has admitted to me that she has a number of wips.
I used to think I was doing something wrong or was easily bored. Then I watched the Slow Knitting Evening and Slow Knitting Night on Netflix and found that there are actually people out there that will finish your discarded wip or even turn it into a piece of art.
Wips seem to be a by-product of a creative mind. There are just more things to make than you have time or hands. All those lovely materials that you just can’t wait to work with.
My beautiful blue blanket! The panel with the circular cable on it was the very first cable project I ever did. I finished that panel well over 20 years ago. I had more than enough yarn to finish the blanket but I put it away in the bottom of one of my stash trunks.
I pulled it out a year ago and decided I wanted to design a blanket around this panel. After all these years and about 5 months of knitting, crochet and tunisian crochet it was finally done.
My Current Dilema
I decided once I finally retired from all my outside jobs, to focus on designing blankets, ponchos, scarves and anything else I can think of. I also took on the challenge of restarting a church craft group.
Since my craft group make a lot of items for 2 craft fairs and charity it takes a lot of work to have enough items. Especially since there are only 3 regular members.
I am also designing 2 blankets for people, designing eco-friendly items and making myself a tank top. I find myself thinking about how much time I am doing my design work vs how much time I am making things for the Fall Fair and our charity.
I know I will figure out a way to get it all done. I’ve always had at least 2 jobs and I probably wouldn’t get as much done if I had the extra time. Still I have moments when I look at all my wips and wish I could work on them all at once.
Do not get upset with yourself if you have a number of wips. Not all wips will ever get finished. Your need or desire will change and you may even get bored with a project. Some wips will get finished and you will discover that sense of satisfaction from finally having completed the project.
Don’t be afraid to rip out a wip and start something new. One of the best lessons I learned from a designer on Bluprint is that if you are going to design you are going to do a lot of ripping out. The same applies to wips. Sometimes you just have to find a new project for the old materials.
Comfort by Joy 