Knitting WIPs – WIP Wednesday

Continuing in my quest to finish some unfinished projects, I finished the Meret this past weekend:

The yarn was lovely, the pattern well written and easy to follow, but even though I ripped back and added in that extra repeat – this hat was just not destined for my head.   I don’t have bangs and I have a rather large forehead, so to wear this as it should be worn will not happen, and to wear it like a normal hat made my head look like a dome.  Wow, do I wish this thing looked good on me, because it looks amazing on other people.  So about 10 minutes after finishing it, it was frogged and the yarn is back in the stash with a plan in place to make a different hat with it, and make matching mitered mitts.   I did keep the pattern with some notes on changes I would make to make the Meret my own (mostly using less increases at the beginning to make it more like a beanie… so I guess it would be a “meanie”?)

About two/three months ago I started a striped baby sweater from a pattern I picked up at my LYS, using all stash yarns (in an unexpected collection of colors that just work so dang well).  Well, I knitted happily along, until a month ago when I left my poor neglected baby sweater to the side with only one sleeve left to go.

On Monday night I picked it up again and finished!    It’s a great pattern (though I can’t think of the name or designer – sorry! I will add it in later) and I am thinking I see more of these in my knitting future – especially since it’s perfect for that small amount of yarn I usually have left over from other projects in this same yarn weight, and all the yarn I still have left over in those yarns after doing this sweater!   Here it is finished and with buttons:

(Just pretend with me that one sleeve isn’t 1/2″ longer and slightly wider than the other one…)

I now have five things in my knitting WIP pile for my Sept/Oct finishing plan:
1. Dan & Clare’s Wedding Gift Mittens (a post on them to come) – 60% done
2. The vest I started last fall from an Ella Rae pattern book – 50% done
3. A triangle of garter stitch that started out as a shawl, but may double in size and become a blanket?  or may get frogged?  Unknown at this point.
4. A sock yarn scarf in plain old rolling edge stockinette that I can’t wait to wear, but also can’t handle too much of the plain stitch at a time – 45%
5. A red cardi in a recycled thrifted sweater yarn that I am planning on frogging.  I am only about 7 rows into the yoke, but am just not that excited about this sweater in that yarn, so am cutting my minimal losses on this one.   This one is going to be my easiest WIP to finish…

How are your WIP piles going?  Anyone else trying to clear out and start fresh?   I think I am going to make Wednesdays – “Work in Progress”  Wednesdays (WIPW) for the rest of my Sept/Oct quest to finish up some things. 

More to come soon: have a quilt all cut and ready to sew, some design school homework to show off, and that post I promised about the wedding gift mittens…