Monday, May 18, 2015

Blur 8811 Cardigan - Knitting Project in Progress

In an attempt to make some headway in sorting out my craft supplies, I went through the numerous bags of half done knitting projects I have lying around.To my shame I had 4 project bags with various pieces in a various stages of completion. The majority where projects I had done very little on, and to be honest had forgotten what they were, so I simply ripped these back to reclaim the yarn.

However I did discover where I had stored the pieces of this particular project.

Sirdar Blur 8811 Cardigan, knitting in progress
Blur 8811 Cardigan
I originally posted about this project in March 2014, hangs head in shame, which you can find here: Some Knitting Progress. Upon finding the bag it was stored in, I discovered that I only had to knit the second sleeve of this before I can put it together.

Sirdar Blur 8811 Cardigan, knitting in progress
Pieces of Blur 8811 Cardigan knitted up
So I have decided that it is time to settled down and finish this piece once and for all. While I love the style of the decorative piece at the front edge of this cardigan I am a bit nervous about starting it. There are quite a few steps involved in creating the design, but I think it will be an interesting challenge and hopefully I will learn some new knitting techniques along the way.

I enjoy working with the Blur yarn, it is so soft and keeps a lovely knit pattern. I have enough of this to complete at least another project if not two. I have a couple of patterns for it in my stash so I will be using the rest for those. 

This phenomenon of partially completed projects is not limited to knitting. Anyone familiar with my blog knows that I have an ever increasing number of cross stitch starts. I even have a dress pattern pinned out on the fabric sitting on a shelf for months, waiting to be constructed. It is time to try and finish off some of these neglected, half finished pieces. 

This need to cull my craft stash and complete projects ties in with my attempts to reduce my craft spending and experiments with budgeting. You can read about these in Stitch From Stash and The Experiment to Spend Less and Stitch From Stash and The Budget Experiment Part 2. As part of this process I plan on making a list of projects for which I have the stash, making these my crafting priority.

I will be allowing myself to switch between crafts, but the overall goal will be to reduce that pile of UFOs. Does anyone find they have the same problems with stacks of half completed projects? If you have any tips for combating this, please leave me a comment below.

I also want to let my readers know that for a while I will be attempting a consistent once a week posting update. Therefore there should be a new post appearing every Monday, which will hopefully be covering a wide range of topics, predominately craft related with some other things I think might interest you thrown in. 

17 comments:

  1. I do have this same issue, but don't look at it as a problem. I craft because I love it, and I work on what I'm feeling at the time, which leads to lots of WIPs, and some UFOs. I usually finish them at some point, but I don't stress about it because I have way too many other things to stress about, and my crafting is purely to make me happy:)

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  2. Definitely worth finishing.You chose a very pretty colour.

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  3. I love the colour of your yarn, look forward to seeing this finished. happy knitting :)

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    1. Thanks so much for your comment. I am really happy with how this is knitting up and that yarn is so soft!

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  4. Love the color of that yarn! It even matches your blog color now. :D I think that cardigan will look magical when finished.

    My only tip for not having stacks of half-finished projects is to not start so many! :b I suppose that doesn't work for a lot of people though, the starts are all the fun for them. /useless comment award haha

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  5. Pretty pattern. I love the color of yarn your using.

    Linda

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  6. The pattern and the yarn color are lovely :) Now that my "mojo" is coming back I am finding myself wanting to start everything in sight!

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    1. Thanks so much for your comment. Since I picked this project up again I have be so tempted to start a number of other knitting projects. Hopefully I can curb that instinct :D

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  7. Wow, that yarn looks gorgeous! Can't wait to see the completed project :D Good luck with all those UFOs!

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  8. That will look beautiful. I like switching between crafts. I find myself more inspired that way:)

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  9. I think you're going about it a good way. I would set myself up a rotation with pieces that are closer to completion getting more time. Like 2 weeks of most finished project (A), 1 week next most finished project (B), 1 week another project (C). Month 2 is 2 weeks of A, 1 week of B and 1 week of another project (D). Then repeat. Then when A gets finished you can replace it with B and so on :) Good luck that's a great color sweater!

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  10. I feel you. I wish I only had 4 knitting projects hanging out. I've reclaimed some, but others are still waiting and waiting.

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    1. Thanks for your comment. I really only reclaimed to ones that I couldn't really remember what they were going to be or had only a few rows. Thankfully that only left this one.

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  11. Oh my goodness, you have no idea of the number of WIPs and UFOs I have - I am too scared to count them all! Love the softness in both colour and feel of your yarn, lovely!

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  12. Very pretty piece. Love the wool you're using. I only have knitting projects on the go at the moment but, of course, lots of stitching projects some of which are UFOs. I'll get back to them one day but not sure how!

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  13. Sorry for the very late comment....I'm way behind on blog reading, emailing etc! I love the colour of the yarn you've used, it's going to look beautiful when finished :)

    When I decided to start stitching again, several years ago now, I had a number of unfinished projects. I chose to work through the ones that I realistically could easily finish and that I wanted to finish. The others that I knew would not be completed I put in a box and stored them away in the loft (I couldn't quite bring myself to bin them). By doing that I made a much more manageable task for myself. I may go back and complete them at some point, but at the time, having a smaller number that I could work through before starting anything new meant that I could get them done. You could maybe reward yourself for working through and completing each one or several of them.

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  14. Love the minty color. Cheering you on!

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Would love to read any comments you would like to leave. Thanks for brightening my day :)