Hello!
A Ravelry friend of mine is trying out being a monogamous knitter, i.e. working on just one knitting project at a time until it is completely finished. She used to be a multi-project knitter like me, and is now finishing one beautiful project after the next. That made me stop in my tracks: could I be a monogamous knitter, too? It sounds attractively simple.
But what if, for instance, I’m in the seaming stage of a sweater and need something small to take along to knit on a trip? Or what if I’m knitting something intricate, am tired in the evening and would benefit from some restful mindless knitting?
At the moment I have 6 projects on the go, and they all live in separate baskets. There is nothing spectacular inside any of these baskets, but perhaps you’d like to take a look?
Basket 1:
This is the project I want to finish first – a jacket for our grandson. He has almost outgrown the jacket I knit for him before and will need a new one soon. The sleeves are almost finished and then all it needs is a hood.
Basket 2:
This vest is even closer to being finished. All I need to do is knit ribbings for the pockets, sew the pocket linings in place and sew on buttons.
Basket 3:
This is my sock knitting basket. It holds all kinds of knitting paraphernalia, a pair of striped socks that only need their ends woven in, and a ball of beautiful pink sock yarn. Both of these lovely yarns (one with yak down and one with silk!) were a gift from a friend. I’d like to make a very special pair from the solid pink yarn, perhaps something with cables or twisted stitches, or a bit of lace…
Basket 4:
This may look like knitted bunting, but is in fact part of a series of swatches for a new design of my own. These three mini-swatches are all about increases. M1L, M1R, kfb or kfbf? I’m puzzling out which increases to use where.
Basket 5:
This is a simple cardigan for myself, knit from a very soft wool and alpaca blend. It is hard to capture the colour – it’s a deep navy blue IRL. I’m keeping track of where to knit in the button holes by looking deep into the eyes of this panda:
It’s a fun but unreliable row counter. The problem is that its lock doesn’t function, which means I need to be very careful with it or it’ll jump from 19 to 29 or 39 rows and then where would I be?
Basket 6:
Sorry, I can’t show you what’s inside the last basket. It’s a surprise gift in the making. Well, okay, I can tell you that it’s going to be a pair of mittens. I’ll be able to show you after they’ve been unwrapped, towards the end of December or early in the New Year.
More about my progress with the contents of the other baskets soon, I hope, including details about the patterns, the yarns etc. Six baskets is about the maximum I can handle, I think. And I’d really like to reduce the number to three or four. Or shall I try reducing them to just one? How about you? How many projects do you feel comfortable juggling? And how do you organize them?
I have three active projects at the moment, each has its own bag. My active projects are “out” at my knitting “station” (rocking chair), and I work on them daily as my mood and/or hand comfort demands.
There are several “in-active” projects (I’ve lost count) that are around. Some are actually in progress, some are gathered and ready to start, but the mood for them has not grabbed me yet. These projects languish in bags, ready but untouched.
I don’t think I can work any other way. I grab the project that calls the loudest. And I confess to start-itis.
Hand comfort, yes, that’s definitely a factor to take into account, too. It’s interesting to read about your active and in-active projects, and your way of ‘listening’ to your knitting.
I love the sweater for your grandson along with every one of the other baskets. Just curious – when you are working on one project, where are the other 5 baskets stored? I think that your projects look so nice in baskets and would look great displayed – but baskets would be a problem for me when I take my knitting out and about with me so much. All of my projects are in bags. Currently, I am down to 3 projects – a pullover for me and a shawl for a gift – the 3rd project isn’t even in a bag – it’s sitting in my tray of things as it’s in a time out – a poncho for my granddaughter – it’s 2 panels and one panel is done and I am not sure that it is going to be big enough – will have to rethink this when I have time.
My projects are all dotted around the living room – next to the sofa, beside a chair, under a side table, on the same side table… Well, you get the idea. I do not have a special crafts room or anything. And some projects I’m not entirely happy with end up in the naughty corner sometimes (i.e. the cupboard behind the upstairs bathroom). I always have a project bag at hand to stuff any suitable project to take with me. I hope the poncho for your granddaughter will work out well. Would it be possible to knit or crochet a border around the panels to make it bigger?
Hoi Marijke,
Dit is zo herkenbaar. Ik ben op dit moment niet aan het breien, maar aan het Tunisch haken en naaldvilten. Daarnaast nog een borduurpakket, inktvisjes maken en…. nou ja je snapt het wel 😊
Groetjes, Yvonne
Wat leuk om te horen wat je allemaal aan het doen bent. Tunisch haken is ook zo leuk om te doen. Naaldvilten heb ik nog nooit gedaan, maar wel vaak verlekkerd naar staan kijken. En inktvisjes??? Die moet ik maar eens een keertje komen bekijken.
Je bent welkom!
Gezellig om een keer bij te praten
I love the idea of being a monogamous knitter…the idea, mind, not the actual practice. All of my projects basically get tossed willy-nilly (usually in project bags) into a giant basket by my desk. I confess that it’s glorious chaotic. I love how organized yours looks to be…and I adore those stripey socks!
Haha, yes, an idea can be very appealing in theory, while it would neve work for us in practice. It’s fun to read how happily chaotic your way of working is. I’m very happy with the stripey socks, myself. The friend who chose the yarn for me has great taste.