Wool on Sundays – 30 (yarn time)

06Jul
by Janine @ Rainbow Hare

Welcome to Wool on Sundays 30 and Thank you very much to everyone who stopped by last week!

Recently, my friend Jules from Juna Creations asked me how long my Perfectly Plain Cardigan took to make. I thought about it for quite a while and in the end I said I started it months ago and did bits off and on. If I worked in it all day every day I expect it would have taken at least a week but probably a lot longer. Whilst all that is true enough, the truth is also that I don’t really know.

The downside of yarn projects is that they take a LONG time. So long that, especially with large blocks of stocking stitch in a single colour, it’s easy to get bored and stack up UFOs. I try to avoid this by working on all the pieces of a project together, for example with socks I knit both top rib sections then a pattern repeat or maybe down to the heel, then both heels, then both feet and finally both toes. It means I’m never stuck with one sock but often stuck with two half socks… It also means that when I go back to a project (like the yoke cardigan) I feel like I’m doing something new.

I’m not at all sure about these colours but I’m hoping the crochet trick of just keep adding more colours will work…

But the upside of yarn projects, and the reason I get more yarn work than machine sewing done these days, is that, once as you are familiar with the basic techniques, you can knit or crochet during times when you wouldn’t otherwise be crafting at all. This week I’ve been travelling a lot and during the time I would have spent sitting in the car, watching football in a hotel (yay! :( ) and just chatting to family, I managed to make a couple of sea flowers (luckily, I managed to get some more wool) and I made a good start on a knitting a coloured yoke on a grey cardigan that has been languishing for ages.

So, in one way, that all added up to several hours but, in another way, it took up no time because all the time I was crocheting or knitting I was still doing everything else I would have been doing anyway.

I also found a fun animation about our perception of time, which has nothing to do with yarn but perhaps explains how once you get started, so long as what you’re doing is interesting and enjoyable, the hours go by and it doesn’t seem long at all :)

If you have any wool or yarn projects this week, or ponderings on how long things take or tips to avoid UFOs, I’d love you to link up with WOOL ON SUNDAYS. The rules as usual are:

1). Posts must include some content – makes or musings – related to knitting, crochet, felting, spinning or yarn.
2). Projects sewn from felt or wool fabric or stitchery using wool are also welcome but please don’t link posts that are exclusively about sewing, quilting and fabrics.
3). Posts don’t have to be from the past week but please put a link to WOOL ON SUNDAYS or grab the button from my sidebar and include it in or at the bottom of any posts you link up.
4). Visit anyone else who links.

Wishing you a week with time to do what you enjoy :)

Janine @ Rainbow Hare

[LINKY PARTY LOST IN MOVE FROM BLOGGER]

8 thoughts on “Wool on Sundays – 30 (yarn time)”

  2. Carla

    Good morning! The first pair of socks I finished this year had been in the works for 2 years. The second pair took 2 months. Improvement for sure. I look forward to seeing your cardi when it's done : )

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  4. Sandra :)

    I love the colours in the sweater, and that sea flower is quite beautiful – is it called a sea flower because of the colours, or ??? I don't think I've ever heard the term before :D

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  6. Kim

    Aah yes the length of time it takes to finish a woolly garment….more often than not with me, they seem to take forever, but perhaps we shouldn't go there. I must say I am loving your cardi…..great colours and pattern!

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  7. Willit Neverend

    I am quite slow at knitting and, although I tend to do it while watching TV, I have to take time to concentrate on it regularly. Last year, or the year before, I started making a scarf for my husband in June (the start of winter), thinking it might take a week or two. By the time I finished it, the weather had warmed up again. oops.

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