On Finishing Old Projects – Big Bug

I’m feeling proud and excited because I finally finished a project that had been sitting in my yarn basket for five or six years. I honestly don’t even remember why I left it unfinished. Sometimes these things just happen. Usually it’s because I don’t immediately have a good idea of how to continue, so I put the project on pause to think. I guess that pause turned into a very long one, and as new projects came along, this big and fun bug was simply forgotten.

When it comes to abandoned projects, I rely on intuition. If I feel that the theme or character no longer speaks to me and I’ll probably never finish it, then I take out the scissors and remove the stuffing (that precious material – can’t let it go to waste!). But with some projects I have this sense that maybe one day I’ll come back to them, and that’s exactly what happened with this bug.

In fact, most of it was already finished – the body, head, and antennae. The only things missing were the wings and the face.

What finally gave me the push to finish it was the desire to use up my stash of Drops Paris. I’ve never been a huge fan of this yarn, although I have written a few patterns with it. And maybe clearing out my yarn stash was motivation enough, because suddenly I got an idea of how to make the wings, and once those were done, the face followed easily.

It seems that in the photos she doesn’t look as big as she actually is. This character measures a full 35 centimeters in height.