A Latte Wips: I Took Inventory
Hi y’all!
Long time no blog. If you’ve stopped on by to catch this long awaited update I appreciate you! If you’re new here to Espresso Fibers, this is a lil blog post outlining an update on my works in progress as of today, with a small feature about taking inventory of all of my projects a week ago!
SO a month went by, and I actually finished some things!!
Finished Objects:
If you read my previous blog post, you would know I was working on a headband, and a pair of socks, both meant for my husband. And ya girl managed to get both done!! I had originally started the socks as a Christmas gift, but missed the mark there. So after putting it off, I did manage to knit away on those and finish them the night before Valentines day! Which made for a easy wash and block before bed. The headband was cast on specifically for Valentines as well, and I finished that project a few days after writing the last blog post, and had that tucked away and ready when the holiday did come around. He loved both items and was especially excited about the socks, he made a point to wear both items that night when we went out. Which is in my opinion, one of the biggest compliments a knitter can get!
Under my belt this past month, is two more FO’s. I finished a crochet cup cozy for my sister that she commissioned from me. The main body of it was done for quite awhile, but there was supposed to be an embroidered butterfly design on it, so I finally got around to taking an afternoon and figuring that freestyle out, and she seemed really happy with it!! Secondly, I also finished a market bag for a beautiful customer out there! Knitting those up is always fun, and I love getting to knit with all the different colors that y’all order.
That’s all my finished objects!
Personal WIPS:
Starting with the new to the needles! I cast on a new pair of socks this past week, a second pair for my husband. With this pair though, I am changing the formula I have for him slightly. So in the first pair I knit for him, I knit a 72 stitch sock, and on the front of the socks, I did a panel of 4 by 2 ribbing. This was to help the socks fit the most comfortable, allowing for some extra stretch, or a more closely fitted feel in the smaller parts of his foot, like around his ankle. I did that intentionally because I definitely wanted those socks to have the best chance at fitting, being that they were the first pair I knit him. Now after seeing his reaction to the socks (it’s been two weeks and he wears them constantly) I have decided it is safe to experiment and see what he really likes, knowing he will probably love them even if they don’t fit just right. So these new socks, are knit as a 76 stitch sock, in plain stockinette, with the same construction otherwise, I do increases after the heel to accommodate his calf, and a fifteen row ribbing to make sure they stay up. And as of today, I am more than halfway through the foot on the first sock already, with the easy goal of getting to the gusset tonight. For those wondering, I do knit my socks toe up, with a rounded toe. Mostly stockinette socks, with a heel flap and gusset, and always a 1x1 ribbing at the cuff.
Onto the wip that while it is a new cast on, is also almost done, and took over my entire life for a solid week and a half. I started a cardigan! I am making the My Comfiest Knit Cardigan pattern, it is a free pattern by Mama in a Stitch. This is a worsted weight cardigan and its knit super long, in pieces and then seamed together. I decided to try the pattern out, I don’t typically knit things in pieces, I much prefer knitting garments in the round, meaning in one piece for the most part, little to no seaming. And due to the inventory count I did recently, I was really in the mood to stash bust a bit. I decided to use up some yarn I was gifted a year or so ago, and make this elegant cozy striped cardigan! (The pieces are featured in the cover photo for this post!) I knit chunky stripes in a light grey and this white yarn that has a blue sparkle running through it. I knit both the fronts first, then I knit the back and seamed those together at the shoulders. I then picked up and knit the collar around the opening of the cardigan. Now all that is left to it is knitting the sleeves, and then seaming those and the sides of the cardigan! I decided due to the fact that I’m striping my colors, and that’s not written into the pattern, instead of knitting my sleeves separate and then sewing them on, I picked up my sleeve stitches directly from the cardigan, and will just knit those flat, down to the cuff to ensure my stripes match up accurately. Which I did already start on one of those sleeves! This project is a great stash buster, and a wonderful mindless knit. Taking the stripe work out of it, you can knit on this mindlessly, I did most of my knitting on this whilst I was out on walks this past week.
Other wips that did get attention recently, was a languishing lace weight shawl project, I pulled it out on a whim and knit six or so rows on it one night, just to look at it. That particular project is not a rush project and is more meant to be knit when I want intricate beautiful work to look at. I also started new design, a different knit bag design, at the request of my husband, which is bringing me a lot of joy, but I have only been working on that project at the gym, so it is a bit slow going.
And that’s all I have for wips!
Business Related:
I do have tentative plans to make myself a small space in my lil apartment to permanently host my sewing machine! I am dying to go through stash, as I previously mentioned, and one of my overflowing stashes is my fabric stash! I have tons and tons of bags already cut out and ready for the machine, and lots of fabric and scraps I would love to turn into something beautiful for you lovely people! So my plan is to set up a little corner where I can get that done! It will give me the space to work, and a space to store all my finished things! I’m hoping to get that done soon, maybe even on my next day off.
I took inventory y’all..
Possibly the worst and best decision, I’ve made in awhile. One of my best friends asked me to count my works in progress, so we could compare who had more. She crochets and while she had a lot of wips, she had no where near as many as me. So I figured I could share my stats, and what my stash and wip count means to me!
So this inventory was taken on February 9th this year, and these are the stats:
I had a total of 46 projects when I counted. That number got broken up into 26 knitting projects, 14 crochet projects, and 6 projects got ripped out in this process.
Since then I have ripped out 3 more projects and finished another.
This count had 6 sock projects, 2 hat projects, 9 garment projects, 5 shawl projects, 9 blanket projects, and 7 miscellaneous projects.
And out of this entire list of projects, only 15 of them were over half way done!
And out of this list, 6 of those projects are my own design!
So what does that say? In my opinion it’s a whole lot of stress! I’ve got so many things going it is a concern that I obviously don’t keep up with everything all the time. But! These numbers also clearly show how vast my creative spark can be, wanting to do and have all the different things as soon as I can. I’m quite impatient when it comes to my ideas. I think this reflects my love for the cozy and intricate, being mostly garments and blankets. My love for practicality, having a number of sock projects and four of them are for me. Shawls are long knits but some of the most beautiful, they can feature some of the best texture or lace patterning, they are a category and accomplishment all on their own, and I don’t try to rush through those. It did make me feel a little claustrophobic though, to see all the numbers in front of me, knowing how much I have going on around me. So naturally I am planning to work through these projects the best I can, and filter them in with any new cast ons, to see that I’m not letting too many things languish. I am trying not to stress it nonetheless, the benefits to having so many projects is I am never bored, and I am never without something to keep me busy. I knit for business and for peace of mind, I crochet for strength and for creativity, and I sew for rest, and for structure. And having the ability to have so many things around me to allow me to do what I like when I like, is beautiful and opportunistic. I feel lucky to be where I am with my stash.
That’s all I have for now! Let me know how your stashes are looking! What project type do you lean more towards?
Catch up with you guys soon, thanks for reading!!
Instagram: @espressofibers @thiscaitlinknits
Ravelry: ThisCaitlinKnits
Recommended Latte: Iced Blonde Vanilla Latte with Chai cold foam! (I always make mine with oatmilk) :)
