Works in Progress

I think every crafter has one or a dozen WIPs (works in progress, if you don't know the shorthand!)  I've decided that if I post my WIPs, perhaps they will become 'Finished Projects.'  Some are more likely than others ...

This is a blanket I'm making for my friend's son.  It's my first HUGE yarn project of any kind, and it has the best chance of being finished.  I started it in this summer and have just finished the last two blocks - the rainbow ones.  They were my 'reward' for the rest of it.

It's made from Red Heart super saver in bright primary colors (and green and grey) and many of the granny's daughters were made for me in the Granny's Daughters swap on Craftster.  WOO.  In fact, getting them was my inspiration for this. 

I'm still a bit iffy on the placement of the blocks and how I'm going to join it together.  From what I've been told (and keeping in mind that this is my first project with granny squares), it looks best and is the strongest if I join with a single crochet.  I was planning on joining with the grey yarn and then doing a border of double crochet.

I guess we'll see how it turns out, right?  I really like bright colors on this, and I think a one and a half year old would like it, too!  Or at least that's my hope.

And now we come to the socks of shame.  It's like the Cone of Shame (from the movie Up - fabulous movie if you haven't seen it!) except smaller, colored, and made of yarn.  Why are they shameful?

Well, they were supposed to be a gift at Christmas 2009.  Yes, that's right.  I've been working on this socks for over two years.  And by working, I mean "working" because they've sat in my project bag.

I admit it - I'm scared of the heel.  But I've got some advice and I think I get how it works now.  I might even pick these up again after Christmas. (I know there's no way to get them finished beforehand.)  At least I've started on presents for Christmas 2012?

And this lovely wrap was one of the first projects I began when I started knitting again.  It's a Vogue pattern, made out of of a gorgeous and soft angora/merino/alpaca blend that I spent a fortune on.  So the guilt here is even more massive as I feel like I'm wasting the money.

But here's the thing - it's for me.  Any crafter knows that projects for you get put on the back burner whenever something else comes up.  And there have been a lot of something elses.

The yarn was originally meant to make a cardigan, but it was a crochet pattern and I just wasn't experienced enough to deal with the thick-thin-thick issue, so I have this.  This pattern is lovely, but a trifle boring to do - lots of short rows.  When it's complete, though, (notice the subordinate conjunction - WHEN!) I was thinking of making some felt flowers to pin onto it to help minimize the holes where thin meets thin.  Or possible where I forgot to wrap the yarn around a short row.  (Of course, I didn't notice until I was a good bit further along and I have no intention of ripping it out.  This yarn doesn't frog well and it'll get all felty.)

So has anyone else have WIPs that they've been "working" on for ages?