WIP vs UFO

What exactly constitutes a work-in-progress (WIP) vs. an unfinished object (UFO)? Does a certain amount of non-productive knitting time need to pass to transfer a particular project from WIP to UFO? Or maybe it is location, WIPs floating to the top while UFOs sink to the bottom of the knitting basket? If something gets transferred from knitting basket to closet, then it definitely becomes a UFO, but what about all those good intentions that remain? Maybe if the knitter gets a grip on startitis, those quasi-UFOs can bubble up and return to the realm of WIPs.

The Easy as Pie blanket is a case in point. What usually happens to stall a project is a snag of some sort, and in this case, I could not reconcile the instructions to pick up 49 stitches along the edge of a square with the fact I could come up with only 48. That, and the onset of summer when knitting wool feels just plain wrong, relegated this project to the bottom of the knitting basket. Now that autumn is trying to ease summer out of the way, the blanket squares have emerged. Some commentary on Ravelry verified that there really are only 48 stitches to be picked up, so I feel vindicated on that point, but now I seem to be short a square. Did I lose one or what?

Fortunately, between my notes on Ravelry and this blog, I was able to ascertain that an earlier snafu left me with the choice of either making a 3x5 blanket or knitting another square to create a 4x4 one. My circles are not divided between two motifs as the pattern dictates but spread out over seven, so I have two squares of most motifs and three of two of them - except for the missing square, of which I have only one. No one else would probably notice, but my knowing that one motif would be represented only once in the blanket is something I can't live with. So now I need to make another square, but it has been so long since I knitted that part of the pattern that I am feeling a little stuck, AGAIN.

Meanwhile, the bathroom curtain is almost done, STILL. All I need to do is bind off while picking up stitches along the way, to create the sleeve for a curtain rod. That is ALL. What holds me back is the need to baste that row of stitches to be picked up, to make sure I stay on course while binding off. Why is that so difficult for me to do?

Sometimes I think my issue with finishing a project is that the end marks the Day of Judgment. Will this knitted object turn out how I envisioned? Will it fit? Will the recipient (even if it is me) like it? Will it look homemade vs. handmade? Will others mock? Will its flaws scream at me every time I look at it?

Despite all the socks I have knit, even they can be daunting to finish, but since they are usually meant as xmas gifts, they get done, the results be damned. I haven't knit many pairs this year, but they are the epitome of portability when it comes to knitting. I might not actually work on them while dragging them hither and yon, but I like the idea of having something at hand in case the need arrives.

What about you? What's your excuse for all those UFOs? I know you have some.

Nary a resolution but many goals

Sometimes I post an end-of-year recap of everything I knit in the past 12 months. With the way I procrastinate and have WIPs/UFOs with project lives that cross years (decades?), this exercise seems more and more pointless. Besides, I didn't finish all that much this year: two pairs of preschooler socks, two scarves, one vest, five pairs of adult socks, two preschooler sweaters (neither of which g'daughter will wear), three hats, one pair of preschooler mittens, and a doll's cape. My excuse is that I was, in spite of retiring mid-year, very busy.

So let's looks forward instead. Here are some WIPs that I plan to turn into FOs in 2015:

• Sockhead Hat - this is my brainless knitting project
• Chunky Sleeveless Sweater - my goal is to master top-down sweater knitting
• Orangy Boot Socks - because everyone has a pair of boot socks except me
• The Gray and the Black Mittens - all that remains is a thumb. ONE THUMB.
• Easy as Pie Blanket - My g'daughter has probably given up on this project.
• EZ Suspender Cardigan - All this needs are buttons. BUTTONS.
• Minimalist Cardigan - All this needs is seaming. SEAMING. NO BUTTONS.

There is a hat in the car that I work on while waiting for one thing or another, a project that I did not enter into Ravelry and whose pattern completely escapes me. Hopefully, there is a note somewhere, to remind me what it is supposed to look like.

There are also some unfinished projects I plan to frog: toddler wear that the g'daughter outgrew already, schmattas that no one I know will wear, etc. I am also eyeing a couple of FOs that languish and give no joy - maybe they will be repurposed somehow.

As far as new projects go, I have a few:

• Stephen Colbert Socks
• Errant Socks
• Danish pullover
• Knit Your Family sweater - My own design, inspired by Ann Shayne's Knit Your Life sweater.

And then there will be the usual xmas knitting. Maybe this is the year I knit felted slippers for all. And I'd like to learn to darn socks. I even purchased the egg for it a while back.

But what about the spinning? you may well ask. Somehow, some way, that has fallen completely by the boards. The woman I purchased by wheel from holds a "spin in" once a month at her shop, and there is a spin in at Teasel Hill Angora Farm whenever a month has a fifth Saturday. Attending these events is part of my get-out-and-about-more resolution, and hopefully they will help jump start the wheel.

Any New Year resolutions or goals for you this year?

Stuck

Do you get stuck at certain points of knitting projects? I certainly do, which is where I am right now. Most of these sticking points are repeat offenders: seams on sweaters, thumbs on mittens, grafting ribbing or garter stitch, buttons.

I have a sweater that I started in 2008, finished knitting and blocking, that has yet to be pieced together. There are three sweaters I wear despite having no closures; I recently purchased a zipper for one and buttons for another, but the third defies a definitive solution. My granddaughter's belated birthday sweater lacks only buttons, which I have but have not sewn on. My first colorwork, a pair of mittens, lacks one thumb. Another pair has not gotten past the first mitten, which also awaits a thumb. Then there is a ribbed moebius scarf that has yet to become an endless loop.

I hit snags when knitting socks - casting on toes, turning heels, binding off ribbing - but with a little peace and quiet, I can get past these. Projects that require a lot of counting can also grind to a halt, but eventually they move on. Anything fiddly, however, is my Waterloo.

What are your UFO hangups?

One Down, How Many to Go?

Today, Knitting Daily posed the question knitters hate to hear: How many UFOs do you have? At first, I smugly thought, Not that many. And I guess I don't have that many, since "many" is a relative thing.

Here's my list:

• Afghan (crochet)
  
• Falling leaves lace shawl (yarn used to be for a baby blanket)
  
• Cream-colored socks
  
• Aloe-jojoba socks
  
• Vintage handbag #2
  
• Denim blue Fat Bottom Bag (needs lining)
  
• Brown Fat Bottom Bag
  
• Orange baby hoodie (abandoned)
  
• Ribbon yarn tank top (abandoned)
  
• Ballband washcloth

Ha! Finished that last one tonight:



Details:

• Pattern from Mason-Dixon Knitting
  
• Size US5 needles
  
• Lion Cotton in turquoise and sunflower