WIP - Work in Progress

What does "in Progress" really mean. Is there a set rule of how long it's been since the project has been worked on? Is it the intention of the knitter as to if it will ever be completed?

Old Projects
Based on the bag that I carry this project in (when I say "carry", I mean let sit in my stash area of my house), you'll realize how old it is. Well, you will if you remember the name of the Tomato Factory.



Every once in a while, I pull out this old gem and start to work on it again.



Well, it must be that time of year again, because my efforts on Donegal have been renewed and I'm working on it now as my primary project. I just started the neck steek, so I'm pretty far along on this great sweater. Just a little bit more to go on the body and then just the sleeves remain.

Suffice it to say, that I'm no Wendy when it comes to doing Fair Isles. Most importantly, I won't have it done by the end of next week (like she would have). Second, I'm no where near as organized. My pattern includes a crumpled photocopy of the pattern (legally obtained from two of my own books) and no enlarged graphs, highlighters, magnetic boards or stitch markers.

One great thing about this WIP, is that I've never gotten tired of the colors or the pattern. Each and every time I've restarted this project, I continue to enjoy working on it. I think that this sweater is by far the nicest men's Fair Isle pattern that Alice ever came up with.

Questions
Some other questions have been asked.

Why didn't I match up the sleeves to the body of the sweater.

A couple of reasons. Mainly because it would have been a pain in the neck to figure out, since I designed the sleeve from the cuff up. But also, because the blocks aren't square. They are wider than they are tall. And since the top of the blocks on the top of the sleeve would have been wider than the height of the blocks on the body, it wouldn't have matched anyway.

What ever happened to the crocheted scarf that was "spooning"?

I have been assured by a few crocheters (including Kathy, the designer of the scarf) that the next row without increases will make this problem go away. I only work on this scarf when I'm bored with my primary projects, or when I need something very mindless or portable to work on, so I haven't gotten to that point yet on the scarf.

And Ginny, I am stumped. I didn't find your questions on hemp anywhere. Point me to them, or ask them again and I'd be glad to answer (and I DIDN'T delete any comments).


Chock-a-Block Sweater
The sweater is finished, or at least the knitting and sewing up part.



I still need to find some good buttons and sew them on. I don't want anything special, just buttons that don't ruin the look of the sweater.

A couple of lessons-learned during the completion of this sweater:

1. I like cardigans a little longer than I thought. I designed this one to be 26" long and I would have preferred 27".

2. My row gauge was off a little (which compounded the length problem). I needed to block the sweater while I stretched it a little to get the 26" design I expected. I will correct the design to include four more rows in each block. I will need to adjust a couple of other items as well to compensate (e.g., the button band length).

3. I will always try to design multi-color garments with an overall design strategy before I begin knitting them. I never would have continued knitting this sweater if I relied on my impressions after the first three rows of blocks.