State of the WIPs

I just realized it's been a while since I had a good long look at everything I'm working on. Part of the sudden introspection is the imminent Spring - there are snowdrops out, and daffs and crocuses are poking their spears out. The other part of it is that over the weekend I did something I've been putting off - I sat down and went through my entire stash. It's all on my Ravelry account now, there are photos of everything. I took so many photos that I used up my Flickr allowance for the month. No, I will not disclose how much yarn I have! Suffice to say I have plenty and I really need to knit up a bunch of it. Plus I'm spinning, and that produces more yarn.

I actually only have 8 WIPs right now. (Knitting of course - embroidery and sewing get their own post someday when all of my embroidery stuff is in one country.) And they are all actively being worked on! It feels so good having that cushion done. It was really making me nuts, not being able to finish it.

So, here are the 8 current projects.

• The Wedding Dress. I've nearly finished the top front. It's a mostly backless style, so the back should work up very quickly. The slowest part of this is having to count and recount stitches on every row. I'm not nearly as good at crochet as I am at knitting, so I'm trying to be careful to make it perfect for S's big day. Once I get to the point in the skirt where I'm repeating two rows of a lace pattern things will get much quicker, as the lace stacks up and I don't need to count it. The yarn is fabulous, which makes it a much more enjoyable project.
• The Ripple Afghan. I'm more than halfway done now, and I have to say, I'd really rather be working on this! If I were to sit down and crank it out, I could probably have it done in a fortnight. But I need to finish the dress, so I'm being good and only working on it while waiting for the Spouse to come to bed. I have two very fat stripes and two-and-a-half thin stripes left. Then I can crochet granny squares with the leftovers!
• The Moccachino Shawl. This is the replacement for the shawl I gave my mother, and my current handbag project. It's going swimmingly, as I've said before. I love working on it. I'm looking forward to wearing it.
• Mum's Warm Shawl. I cart this around whenever I'm going to be knitting and chatting. It's just garter stitch for the time being, so I don't really have to pay attention to it. I'm looking forward to getting to the lace pattern, but not just yet.
• Totoro. I swapped this out from my handbag because it requires row counters and scissors and fiddly bits. I've finished one of the pieces and started the second. It'll get there.
• The Test Mittens. I knit, I tested, I provided feedback, then I ripped. I wanted the finished mittens to be a bigger size, so ripped and am reworking the colour pattern. (The ribbing fit perfectly.) I work a couple of rounds on this each week, but since I seem to have missed mitten season they are not an urgent project.
• Cable Ribbed Socks. I cast these on because I couldn't bear to not have any socks on the needles. I'm not really in a sock mood right now, so I work a round or two while watching tv or listening to the radio. I like the way the yarn is knitting up, though!
• Garters the Second. Good for hauling around to SCA events, as they require no thought whatsoever. And they are in period. Right now they are on holders because my only set of 2.25mm needles are in a pair of cable ribbed socks. I may go get more of these needles so I can get back to work.

Good variety and good progress, so I'm happy. I'll be happier once I've finished a few of these so I can get on with other things! I've some gift shawls planned, since all of my friends seem to have gotten engaged all at once. Plus this was supposed to be the year I made things for me, so I have lots of projects in the works!

I tidied up my queue on Ravelry last weekend too. I've gone through, tagged everything, noted which projects require me to buy the pattern, and put things in order. Everything for which I've got yarn and pattern is at the front of the queue. And since all my stash is now on Ravelry, I've gradually been going through and finding patterns for everything. I'm now excited about finishing because I'm ready to get on and start new stuff. It's great.