Recently, when answering questions about knitting, I reflected upon my teaching.  I found myself comparing what I call the outside process of knitting:  plan, make, finish, wear to the process of planning a unit.  “What is it I want my students to know and be able to do at the end of the unit?” I would ask myself as a teacher.  “What is it I want to wear to the special event?” I ask myself as a knitter.  I see similarity in thinking about the end first, then planning accordingly.

Plan, make, finish, wear is the process I am talking about in this 3 part series.  In What’s OUT and what’s IN regarding FO Storage (Part 1 of 3), I began with the end, the finished garment.  In this post and thinking backwards, I will explain how I organize and house the works-in-progress (WIPs).  For me, this is the easiest of the process sequence to write about as, once figured out, is pretty much without change except for the fun, creative projects I put inside it.

Criteria:

• Designed for at home use as that is where I knit
• Out of way of sun and family traffic
• Needed to house one item WIP at a time  (Years of employment and raising a family took precedence and offered only limited amounts of time for knitting.)  This could change with the upcoming retirement.
• Large in capacity:  My projects are typically large in size, therefore this system has to house a large amount of yarn that then transforms to multiple pieces of knitted fabric, typically large fabric pieces due to styles I prefer.
• Preferably with compartments for organizing
• Offers a note taking system and easy access to tools
• Protection from one loving, disobedient pooch

So, here is how she looks.

Right now, the container is fairly empty because I haven’t rolled all the yarn, yet.  And, I’ve just begun this project so there is no knitted fabric to be stored.  As I move along however, you can imagine how I will keep all the pieces together in one shelf and the yarn in another.  The actual piece and all the tools I am using sit on a white tray that moves in and out of the top shelf of this container and to my lap.  The tray makes for efficient movement and everything I need for that work is at my fingertips.

With coffee table in front, there is space for note taking, magazine inspiration, and coffee drinking.  There is a beautiful window to my left for natural light and a TV in front of me, oftentimes set to mute so as to concentrate.

Can you recognize the project?

NOTE:

Outside process: plan, make, finish, wear ~ what happens before and after the actual knitting

Inside process: the actual knitting