Wednesday 19 March 2014

WIP Self-Discipline

Having decided that my reading of late hasn't been interesting enough, I struggled to find something a bit more challenging that I could settle in to. I tried a few things from my academic bookshelves, but I only get to snatch a few pages of reading at a time at the moment, and that just isn't enough to settle into anything like that. After that I turned to my shelf of unread literature in search of something a bit more highbrow. This is what I found:


I think I bought this around the time Ms Lessing was awarded her Nobel Prize, but I have never got around to reading it. It certainly isn't bland! The basic plot, without giving much away, is a re-imagining of the genesis of humanity, but with women as the originator, as opposed to the biblical story of Adam as the origin of Eve. Interestingly Lessing has chosen a male voice as narrator, and this certainly isn't a fluffy portrayal of womankind. This was exactly what I needed: something intelligent enough but not to intellectual.


To add some yarn to this yarn-along, this is my finished garden view scarf blocking. Having made the Moses basket my location for photographing works-in-progress last week, I decided to make use of Sausages' bed for blocking. My house seems to be full of unused children's beds...and my bed seems to be full of children! I was really pleased with this shawl, and I'd love to knit it again, but much bigger and in the specified yarn weight. I also managed to get an action shot of my finished Aviatrix. Yes, he does look like he's sleeping on his face. I can't get him to go down any other way. I am watching him very closely. How quickly those little cheeks have filled out, that tiny chin disappeared into a cushion of baby fat. Delicious!


Thanks to the advent of the face-down nap, there has been a bit more quality time for Sausages going on. This picture probably sums up our afternoon today:


Since I'm linking up with Tami's Work in Progress Wednesday, I thought I'd mention my WIP situation. I see on Ravelry that there are five official WIPs listed: the gift shawl; the gift-from-a-friend shawl; the Christmas-gift mittens; a Christmas jumper for Husband; and an exploring sleeveless for Sausages. My queue is massive, and of course there are additional items in my mental queue, some of them already represented by bags containing patterns and yarn. This is madness! I have a two-month-old baby who will not be put down, and a three year old who needs my input all the time and is capable of turning the entire house upside down the minute I turn my back. These are all bigger projects that are plodding along in the background, but I do need those quick and simple projects (such as the garden view scarf) to give me that "finished object" fix in the mean time. I'm not going to get a sense of achievement from my untidy house, messy kitchen, or mountains of laundry right now! I guess what I'm saying is that I defend the long-term WIP/short term satisfaction project set-up, even if it does add time to the longer projects. After all, my cousin will still be married whenever I finish this shawl, and there will be another Christmas this year. Sausages is growing fast though...I'd better get cracking on that one!

What are you reading and crafting this week? Do you have long-term WIPs? Come on, 'fess up!

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5 comments:

  1. I love your Aviatrix, I just finished my own yesterday. It is a neat pattern. One thing I noticed is that the chin strap length in the pattern seems a bit short relative to the size of the hat (I am putting on a button, not making ties). Did you find the strap long enough?

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    1. Thank you! Actually I was worried that it might be too long, but it fits really nicely. It's now my go-to baby gift pattern!

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  2. Your shawl is beautiful! I love that green!

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    1. Thank you! It cried out "spring leaves" to me!

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  3. The books looks interesting, I'll search it.

    Lovely shawl!

    Here's my WIP: http://mibruno.com/en-proceso-130/

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