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Saturday, November 13, 2010

WIP? UFO? A decision each must face alone.....

I have a question for you. When is a project a WIP, and when is it a UFO? Just to be clear, generally crafters/needlewomen in the blog world refer to their projects as "Works in Progress" or WIPs when it is something they are picking up and working on regularly, moving forward and overcoming obstacles, anticipating completion within a foreseeable future. And the UFO (UnFinished Object) is a pathetic abandoned project, the victim of, what, apathy? An insurmountable obstacle? A missed gifting deadline? Often the symbol of dashed hopes, they languish in baskets, boxes, bags, typically out of sight and thankfully, out of mind.
I put it to you however that the no-man's-land between WIP and UFO is a highly personal territory. The defining borders between the two are individual not only to owner of the project, but also to the project itself. By definition a work-in-progress is unfinished, but to be relegated to the lower-class status of a UFO is a distinction each artist can make only for herself. Will she resist labelling a beloved project a UFO despite no discernable progress in days? weeks? months? Years? How long is too long an interval for a project to be "resting"?
Well, I'm going to explore this topic with my next few posts, while at the same time bringing forth my UFO/WIPs to the light of day. In some of my cases, I will re-commit myself to their completion. In others, I will admit defeat, and determine a more suitable fate than the purgatory of UFO.

Today I am spotlighting a project I introduced with this post, in which I proposed to select and create an edging to apply to a new set of sheets. It took me a little while, but I finally selected this edging: I found this Lily Filet Edging on a website, and the graph is a free download. The two photographs are copyrighted 1999 by Sandy Marshall. I hope I'm covered in using them by crediting her.
The link is here. I am enjoying doing this very much. I can't say that I am making rapid progress. Each repeat is about 4-3/4" or more. A queen size sheet is 90" wide. Since I am making my own sheet, I can make the sheet more or less than 90" as needed to fit an even number of repeats. I think I will need about 18-19 repeats.
As you can see here , I have almost 3 repeats. I'm also not sure how many more balls of crochet thread I'll need. Probably 2 or 3 more. I bet I've used half the ball on these 3 repeats.
I think I had better pick up the pace. It has taken me about a month to get 1/6th done....
At this pace, it will take 6 months! I mostly crochet while I'm riding in the car. The DH and I work at the same office, and I am usually the passenger. It takes about a half hour, and most mornings, I spend about 10-15' trying to put on make-up in a moving car. The rest of the time I crochet. Before DST ended, there was usually still light to crochet by on the way home, but not any more. I really need to get a little clip on light, for just this problem!
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On a completely separate topic: Tonight 2 of my favorite movies are airing on TCM. I have mentioned before my love of Hollywood musicals (did anyone catch Oklahoma! late last night?), but I love even more the old b&w WWII dramas. Tonight, don't miss the introductory comments (tune in at 8 pm sharp!) of Robert Osbourne and Alec Baldwin, about "The Best Years of Our Lives", and if you haven't gotten enough, after that, enjoy "Mrs. Miniver". I love Greer Garson and Walter Pidgeon so much, I have this one on DVD. And the wonderful Theresa Wright is in both. I'll be cozied in with my popcorn and a stitching project (probably the Lily Filet Edging) for both of these gems.


3 comments:

acorn hollow said...

Well I would say that is a wip. and darn pretty. I love old movies and have seen both of these movies.
My daughter is the only one her age 27 who knows about old movies and enjoys them. Her husband who I love says "Really Ashley? it's in black and white!" I guess you just have to understand it. to love it.
Cathy

Can do mom said...

Once again I'm in awe of your talent. My organizing skills are just plain boring next to your stitchery! C'mon, pretty sheets you sleep with nightly or an organized pantry? No contest!

As you may remember, I had an ancient WIP that probably should have been classified UFO except that after ten L-O-N-G years I did finally (finally!) finish the drawing. Hallelujah! So, I know the feeling. Now, thankfully, I'm UFO free. I swear it stifled my creativity!

We love old movies here, too. I haven't seen the WWII movies you're talking about but we'll have to look into renting them from the library. I just broke down and bought Calamity Jane on DVD. The children and I love it. Same with Annie Get Your Gun and Seven Brides for Seven Brothers. I guess we're Howard Keel fans!

Happy crocheting!

Rosy Inspiration said...

Wow! It looks like a lovely project worth pursuing till the end, sometimes I guess it's better late than never.