50 DAYS OF WIPS – WEEKS 6 + 7

5 min read

Welcome to day two of 12 days of Blogmas! On November first I started a little creative project: for 50 days I wanted to prioritise finishing off works in progress (so-called WIPs).

Wednesday was the official last day of this 50 days of WIPs challenge. It’s been great. I haven’t documented as much as I had intended but I took time for creativity every single day and completed a few WIPs, so it was definitely successful!

I am definitely motivated by a challenge like this. Having some clear parameters and deadlines helps me to focus and prioritise the task in question. I guess years of being a student have conditioned me that way!

Weeks 5 + 6

I haven’t been doing great physically during this pregnancy and the last few weeks were especially hard. On top of the back and pelvic pain I also got a really bad cold. Luckily, I had a lot of support getting housework done and looking after SJ.

This also meant that I spent a lot of time on either the sofa or in bed. In turn, that meant lots of knitting time! In the last two weeks of this project I got a fair bit done.

Let‘s talk about what WIPs I tackled!

Moby Sweater

I have talked a fair bit about this project in recent posts as I have been working on this a lot over the last 50 days. I am very happy to report that the sweater is complete!

It was a lengthy project, with a lot of charts. The sweater is knit on 4mm needles, so there are several thousand stitches – a lot of knitting! The process of making this was fun and interesting and I learned some new techniques.

The size I chose for me is L. It’s hard to assess the fit currently as I have this massive baby bump but I think it fits quite well. I could have possibly added a few centimetres to the sleeves but they might grow as I wash and wear the sweater.

The yarn I used was Mayflower Easy Care Classic in the colour 216. The yarn was relatively inexpensive and it was lovely to knit with. I can’t comment on how well it holds up over time but will be sure to report back once I have worn and washed it a bit.

The Bearly Bonnet

This was the kind of WIP that I really wanted to tackle during this project: I made the actual hat last year over the Christmas holidays but then never finished it off. It just sat in a basket awaiting its fate.

So, I recently blocked it, knitted the ears, crocheted some ties and attached them all. I think it looks so so cute!

The pattern is by Pure Stitches and is available for free. The yarn I used is the coop socks yarn.

Tessa Bath Mat

This project isn’t finished. I did complete the actual mat or blanket part but haven’t made or attached any tassles yet. I think they really make this project so definitely want to do those! I need to have a look through my yarn stash and find some brightly coloured leftovers I can use.

We will see when that might happen – maybe I need to do another 50 days of WIPs project in the future… ha!

A knitted cardigan for a baby girl

After finishing the Moby sweater and casting off the Tessa Bath Mat I really felt like casting on something new. So this isn’t a WIP as such, but I think that is allowed! (After all, this is my challenge and I make the rules. Haha.)

Ideally, I don’t only want to clear out my WIPs basket but also reduce some of my stash. I have some yarns with some very specific projects in mind. Somehow, these don’t stress me as much. I feel more unsettled by yarns that I just don’t know how to use. I received this very pretty pink Merino Baby yarn as a gift. I don’t have quite enough to make a garment with it for SJ so instead I decided to make something for a baby.

We don’t know if we are having a boy or a girl but my personal guess is the baby is a girl. However, if I am mistaken we have some good friends who are having a girl in March, so I could also gift it to them.

So, long story short: I cast on the “Fridas Schlüttli” by Frau Friedel strickt. It’s a very cute cardigan with some buttons on the side of the front body. The pattern includes a little bonnet as well, which I am hoping to make as well, I think I should have enough yarn for that.

I finished knitting the cardigan on the last day of the challenge. All that is left to do is blocking and attaching buttons.