June 18th, 2014

Everyone crocheter or knitter has them: Projects that you've lost the zest for (or the yarn). These WIPs eventually end up getting tossed on your yarn pile to be dealt with some other time (it could be in the next couple of years, but it will get done...maybe...most likely.......possibly...).

Clearly, you eventually have to do something about this, otherwise you will have way more WIPs than you know what to do with! I found one or two tricks that that you can use to downsize this problem :)

1) UN-ravel them.

I know this sounds really obvious, but some knitters and crocheters don't realize how helpful this can be: If you unravel a project, you get the original yarn back (good if you loved the yarn, bad if you absolutely hated it), which is nice if you have a shortage of yarn. I recently unraveled several projects (mostly granny squares) and was surprised at the amount of yarn that I got. You may feel bad unraveling all of your hard work, but after a little while, you'll get over it. Some people feel better unraveling other peoples projects than their own, so maybe you and a yarn buddy can get together and unravel each other's projects :)  

2) Owls. that's all you need to know...

This one is a little hard to explain, but the photos will help. This one is "marketed" toward Amigurumi makers.


The secret?: Almost every limb/head/body can be turned into an owl!

Since most Amigurumi pieces are just cylinders, with a small seam, you can make something adorable (like the owl pictured above!). Here's a little how-to:

1) The body

All you need for the body is a basic circle, and several rounds of single crochet. For the body above, I used the limb pattern from this alien:

After making that, stuff the body, and sew it shut:

After you sew it shut, tie a knot and weave in the ends. You now have a little owl body! I chose a bright, rainbow-colored yarn, but try experimenting. This little guy would look great in almost anything!

This is what your owl should look like at this point:

2) the eyes

This step is super simple (as all things should be). All you need to do is create a magic ring, chain 1, and single crochet 6 into the ring. Slip stitch to the first stitch, and fasten off. After you make two of them, take some black yarn and embroider little ity-bity eyes (this step may be a little hard because the piece is so small).

3) The beak

This is definitely the easiest step. Just chain 2, single crochet in the chain farthest from the hook, and fasten off. It's as easy as that! 

4) Put it all together

Sew the eyes onto the body, both right next to each other. Then, so the beak right below it,

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And that's it! You have used up a WIP, and you now have an adorable owl!

But the beauty of this technique is that you can experiment with it. Do you want make a super giant version? Try the Big and Chubby Owl! Looking for something a little smaller? Try this (this one uses some different techniques, but is still super easy)!




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These are just a few WIP using ideas to get you started. Do you have a special trick for using up un-wanted projects? If so, please share in the comments :)