I've been giving wips a lot of thought in recent weeks. I am feeling a little swamped by ideas and half started, half finished projects. I find the unfinished ones nag at me but really, there are some that get so far and really really don't deserve the time it would take to finish them! So I had a rummage through the workroom cupboards and was horrified to find that I may be a serial wipper! I have decided to separate the genuinely deserving w.i.p.s from the general mass of unfinished objects which will be mothballed away perhaps for another generation to love!
In my 20's I discovered tapestries. I did a lot of travelling with my work and would hate to be stuck in a hotel room without something to stitch. Many are from kits given to me by friends and family. All of them were supposed to become cushions or chair covers! But all of these have become unfinished objects.
If anyone has ever worked an Elian McCready needlepoint, you will understand the work that goes into every square inch! It took me a year to find the time to finish this one! I think it should definitely find a home on the sofa somehow!In my late teens I began lace making, but I have little need for lace edged handkies so I have no idea why I started on one! I suspect the appeal of lacemaking to me was more about those bobbins and beads! I have all of my grandma's bobbins too.
Just look at those adorable doggie buttons!
Going back much much further, does anyone else have one of these? This would have been before I was 10. French knitting was a bit of a craze for a time in our household. We had imaginings of rugs and bedspreads but really, truthfully, I think it was more sibling rivalry relating to length!
6.8 metres of squirly, colourful, yumminess!
(I don't think my brother reads this blog, but I know his daughters drop in from time to time - so, for the record girls - I have daddy's french knitting too and it's only 2.4 metres long!)
This wonderful ball of hopefullness comes from my teens. I spent hours and hours joining and plaiting rags to make a coiled rug- I haven't even unwound it to measure how far I got. The colours are not at all what I would wish and so this, I think, will be hidden back in the cupboard!
And here's a w.i.p no more! The second chair is back home in the hall and very comfy it is too!
I took it outside to photograph the colours in that piece of vintage Sanderson fabric. The gimp was ordered specially here to match the pinkest rose.
I won't be Upholstering in the summer term so only 5 weeks to go before a long break. But I'm feeling ambitious so the next project will be the beautiful boy's armchair! It will have to be started and then wait until the Autumn Term to be completed as I expect it will take some considerable time! Not least to find a fabric. The beautiful damask is completely worn but the boy is keen to keep it the same! So the hunt is on!
And here's one of many fledgling w.i.ps. I have hit troubles with how to embroider the different elements to bring it together....so I'm going to keep you guessing until I work it out!
Hope you're all having a good week. I have been trying to work out Twitter, but have no idea what I'm doing so, if any of you are more experienced, feel free to do whatever it is Twitterers do to make contact! Link in the sidebar... t.x
In my 20's I discovered tapestries. I did a lot of travelling with my work and would hate to be stuck in a hotel room without something to stitch. Many are from kits given to me by friends and family. All of them were supposed to become cushions or chair covers! But all of these have become unfinished objects.
If anyone has ever worked an Elian McCready needlepoint, you will understand the work that goes into every square inch! It took me a year to find the time to finish this one! I think it should definitely find a home on the sofa somehow!In my late teens I began lace making, but I have little need for lace edged handkies so I have no idea why I started on one! I suspect the appeal of lacemaking to me was more about those bobbins and beads! I have all of my grandma's bobbins too.
Just look at those adorable doggie buttons!
Going back much much further, does anyone else have one of these? This would have been before I was 10. French knitting was a bit of a craze for a time in our household. We had imaginings of rugs and bedspreads but really, truthfully, I think it was more sibling rivalry relating to length!
6.8 metres of squirly, colourful, yumminess!
(I don't think my brother reads this blog, but I know his daughters drop in from time to time - so, for the record girls - I have daddy's french knitting too and it's only 2.4 metres long!)
This wonderful ball of hopefullness comes from my teens. I spent hours and hours joining and plaiting rags to make a coiled rug- I haven't even unwound it to measure how far I got. The colours are not at all what I would wish and so this, I think, will be hidden back in the cupboard!
And here's a w.i.p no more! The second chair is back home in the hall and very comfy it is too!
I took it outside to photograph the colours in that piece of vintage Sanderson fabric. The gimp was ordered specially here to match the pinkest rose.
I won't be Upholstering in the summer term so only 5 weeks to go before a long break. But I'm feeling ambitious so the next project will be the beautiful boy's armchair! It will have to be started and then wait until the Autumn Term to be completed as I expect it will take some considerable time! Not least to find a fabric. The beautiful damask is completely worn but the boy is keen to keep it the same! So the hunt is on!
And here's one of many fledgling w.i.ps. I have hit troubles with how to embroider the different elements to bring it together....so I'm going to keep you guessing until I work it out!
Hope you're all having a good week. I have been trying to work out Twitter, but have no idea what I'm doing so, if any of you are more experienced, feel free to do whatever it is Twitterers do to make contact! Link in the sidebar... t.x
Comments
I'll do some twittering and add you.
x
your last photo makes my heart jump...we're patchworking here at the moment and we have some very similar prints...curious to see what you will do!
Oh the perils of speed reading/commenting because the little one is outside with daddy for 5 minutes!
Lisa x
Those tapestries do look like a lot of work! Half my trouble is that I have too short an attention span and like to see things finished in a really short time. I used to love my knitting nancy though, but what are you really supposed to do with the huge lengths of thin tubing???
Mel xxx
I love your chair..and.. just out of interest ..what do you do with your finished French Knitting ?
;-)
when I saw your lace bobbins - my eyes lit up and I thought ooh I'd like to try that - but I'm going to 'step away' and crack on with a wip instead :)
BBG - good guess but it's not for patchworking! t.x
BBB - it's a problem with big cupboards - stuff just accumulates without any effort on my part! t.x
SC - should we have a competition - 101 uses for a long thin string of knitting?! t.x
MM - I have let go! Back into the cupboard! :-) t.x
Sal - I measure it and tell my brother it's much longer than his!! :-) - grow-up? me? never! t.x
MM - you're welcome sweetie - I enjoyed it too, most are back in the cupboard but a couple might get back into the active w.i.p.list!
DD - half term feels like a long time ago to me! t.x
J-M - useful item number two - cobwebs and placemats - we're on the way! t.x
Claire - did you say crack the whip? t.x
SC - are we sure it's not called blogging?! t.xx
I love how your latest chair turned out. Gorgeous Sanderson fabric...you really have become quite an expert very quickly!
Had to laugh at your French knitting...its lovely that you have kept them (can't remeber if we ever sat working on these together when we were young, can you? Didn't realise that bro was a dab-hand at it too!)
I'm sure mine was longer than that ;-)), but we'll never know...I used to pass on all my old toys to my younger cousin...
I've been having a clear-out today...maybe I shouldn't be in such a rush to part with things...
Niki x