Crochet - A Work in Progress - Ashley Evalina Blog

As a crafter – at least with knitting, crochet and sewing – we often talk and share about our wips. Wip just stands for ‘work in progress’. Especially on Wednesdays. A wip is simply an unfinished piece; a project or item we are actively working to finish.

For example, Sophie’s Universe that I had been working on.

Over on Instagram, I’ll share my current UFO (not that kind – an unfinished object) each Wednesday. Today, I can’t help but think about myself as a work in progress.

I’d like to be honest for a few moments.

Perhaps it’s because my baby’s first birthday is approaching (how did time move so quickly?). Or maybe it’s just life in general. But, lately I’ve been reflecting a lot on the past year. What I’ve learned, how I’ve grown and most importantly, the work I’ve still to do.

When I got pregnant with my daughter, I leaned hard into crafting. I had a bit of a rough pregnancy and it seemed like anything that could go wrong, was. That’s not even to mention I had found out I was expecting at the start of the pandemic, with so much unknown. So, I took to my hook or my sewing machine and busied myself creating things in hopes that my (then unborn) daughter would one day get to use them.

Whether it was quilting or crocheting, it kept my mind off of the reality I was in. Both became my rocks and my constants. I couldn’t fully prepare for something I had no idea on what to expect. But, I could easily make choices and decisions regarding patterns, fabrics, stitches and yarns.

I pushed myself outside of my comfort zone to choose and create patterns I would have shied away from previously. Persian Tiles by Janie Crow for example. This pattern has so many colour changes and ends to weave in, I never would have thought my hands capable. I hadn’t truly done anything in colorwork prior to this pattern. Nor had I really woven in the ends – unless just crocheting over them counts (it doesn’t).

I couldn’t really change the way things were with my pregnancy, or the outcome. Whatever was to come, would. Though, with crochet, I could challenge myself and change things as I went, if I needed to.

What I like about crochet is that it is fairly easy to fix – no, correct my mistakes. It has taught me, and really solidified, how to return and recover from a mistake. Depending on the mistake, I might just leave it. Much like my skin these days, the imperfections and mistakes unashamedly show the journey I have taken, and proudly reflect the missteps and learning opportunities I have been fortunate enough to experience.

This has bled into my own life and how I approach things. I have certainly gained more patience and appreciation for the process, not just the finished product.

After all, we all have our own strengths and weaknesses and can learn to optimise and play to them respectively.