#WIPWednesday

Published on March 18, 2026

Crochet

A vertical colour photograph of a crochet shawl in progress. A part of it is white, another creamish pink. It rests on a yellow and grey Welsh woven blanket.

Progress continues steadily. I am halfway through the second colour and all is well. I enjoy sitting with this project and nothing else going on, slowly making my way round and round as I focus on the soft feel of alpaca mixed to merino, as I think of my niece and how she might enjoy the shawl (and wondering how quickly she'll shrink it in the wash...).

Project pouch

I've been obsessed with a new craft and as I work at it, it has become obvious I need a pouch of some kind to carry it about. It's fine at home when I can load up my arms with yarn and tools, less so when I go to work and yarn trails behind me as I head under the tucked away corner under the stairs during my break. So I'm making a pouch.

A vertical colour photograph of a brown crochet work. It's a rectangle with a red hook attached to it. The work rests on a book with an old red cover. The whole is set on an unmade messy bed.

I love a pouch. Nearly every project, and absolutely all my tools have their own pouch. It keeps things tidy at home and tidy in my bag on the rare occasion I step out (read: go to the office). In the past I would have grumbled about needing yet another pouch, browsed online, grown confused, overwhelmed, and purchased nothing. Now I can crochet myself a solution. It is such an amazing feeling and so satisfying to know I now have the skills and tools to answer my own need.

I'm excited to get along with this project but can't hurry it along. I'm using a fairly dark yarn which makes evening work difficult. I'm using a smaller crochet size than I should to keep the fabric dense so it can hold its shape a bit better so each stitch is a little harder to work than I'm used to. I'm going to have the line the pouch with fabric. I have the fabric but I have no clue how to do that part of the job. Tutorials will need to be watched/read which may delay the end result. We'll see. This is something for future me to do. I still have a fair bit to crochet and whilst I really want this pouch, I am in no hurry. The process is as much of the joy (if not more) and I have plenty of other crafts I can carry with me on the few days I go into the office.

Granny squares blanket

No progress.

A horizontal colour photograph of a messy bed with books about knitting, needles with the start of a grey work on, a brown crochet work in progress on a book by a mug of tea. My crossed legs in yellow and white socks are poking at the bottom of the frame.

Knitting

Learning to knit

Knitting has been confusing.

I know I should practice a little everyday but I have been obsessed with other crafts and busy crocheting. The latter is a much easier craft for me to pick up when energy is wavering. I'm new at it but I'm familiar enough that I can work on projects without engaging my brain too much. The obvious downside of not making the time for knitting, even just a couple of minutes, is that I have to relearn every time which makes everything more difficult and me less likely to pick up my needles.

Again and again, I found myself forgetting how to work the knit stitch. I thought I remembered until halfway through a row, everything became impossibly taught and difficult. I have figured out what I do wrong three times, and three times I have frogged the work to start from scratch. It turns out my brain insist on inserting the needle in the wrong place. I now carry a photograph of the correct way to refer to at the start of every knit row. It is much easier and much more relaxing when I do it right.

A vertical colour photograph of a grey twisty yarn that has just been frogged on a blue sofa seat. My legs are visible in mustard coloured jeans at the right hand side of the image.

This past week-end, I have figured out a project to tackle so I'm hoping it'll help keep my practice up. I'm making a small pouch (have I mentioned I love a pouch?). Nothing fancy, just a basic rectangle to fold in half, sew up, and add a string to. I'm about to purchase a bag I've been eyeing up for over a year and it lacks side pockets (hence hesitating for a year). I'm going to remedy this with a pouch to retain easy access to hand gel and other me essentials.

A vertical colour photograph of a small strip of grey knitting on wooden needle rests on a pink plinth by a bicycle wheel.

Spinning

Also, this!

I am so excited. I have missed spinning a lot over the last few months. In the state of fatigue I've been in, I've found the coordination needed to work with my spindles more than I can handle. I am hoping that this little e-spinner will help me spin more as I will have less to manage, or at least differently.

A vertical colour photograph of a small black e-spinner with white floof spun on it and unspun next to it on a wooden desk. In the background is a door with coats and scarfs draping down, a stair landing with a table, and behind a window with wooden blind halfway down.