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So far I've always thought the two words might be interchangeable, but after posting a poll on your current WIPs I realized I've been making two mistakes:

1) The expression "on hold" meant "current" in my poor and cranky vocabulary, I didn't think it actually meant "waiting". The Italian expression isn't as confusing, that's why I did this mistake, sorry.

2) For WIP I intended SAL, for SAL I intended WIP... That was until I read a poster who made a distinction between the two... I am confused here, i can't solve this mistery until some holy soul comes to make it clearer to me!

Thank you, and sorry for these mistakes.

SAL: these are the initials of the words " Stich-A.Long", which means when a group of people get together, usually on-line, to stitch a project at the same time, usually it's the same design, although sometimes it can be a different one.
WIP: these are the initials for the words " Work In Progress", which means something you are stitching at the moment. (In spanish I say Labor En Progreso),
I hope this helps you.
For some reason, a lot of people confuse these two terms and mix them up.
UFO: it means "Un-finished Object", this is something you started and then either forgot about it or lost interest in it and put it away. I prefer to say "Un-Finished Project"...hee hee

Now I'm confused. It appears that we use SAL on this site for something we're working on and want to share the progress in pictures, not necessarily something more than one person is stitching.

Wandatoo wrote:Now I'm confused. It appears that we use SAL on this site for something we're working on and want to share the progress in pictures, not necessarily something more than one person is stitching.

I actually said something about that, when Alex put it up, but I guess he either never read it, or just preferred to leave it as is. Hence the confusion. But, hopefully he'll read this and maybe change the title to WIP's. ??

There are also SALs in the SAL section. The sal section just seems to be current projects rather than specific current projects. I think it was intended for SALs but when the site was young there weren't any yet so people utilized it for their wips and it just grew from there, now there are the odd few sals springing up and that's great.

But SAL is Stitch-a-long and it means a group of people stitching the same design at the same time.
WIP is work-in-progress. Sals are WIPS but WIPs are not always SALs.

Angel wrote:There are also SALs in the SAL section. The sal section just seems to be current projects rather than specific current projects. I think it was intended for SALs but when the site was young there weren't any yet so people utilized it for their wips and it just grew from there, now there are the odd few sals springing up and that's great.

But SAL is Stitch-a-long and it means a group of people stitching the same design at the same time.
WIP is work-in-progress. Sals are WIPS but WIPs are not always SALs.

Yes, that's where my confusion comes from. I've always read the SALs section believing it was about individual WIPs (which are the majority anyway), so I added mine, too.

It's why when I re-did my thread of projects, I renamed it from Mabel's SALs to Mabel's WIPs, because most of them are just my individual projects. Does anyone remember why the SAL section was called SAL when it was set up? Was it originally intended for Stitch-A-Longs only?

It is not totally Alex's fault that the name of the thread is Stitch A Long. When I asked him if it was possible to add a seperate section were we could all follow the progress of each others stitching progress, I added a sentance about "We can all stitch along with each other virtually." This may have been where he got the idea for the thread name.

So to me there are really 2 definitions for SAL

1) the traditional SAL is were a group of stitchers work on the same pattern and share there progress by posting picture to a thread ie... Our SAL with the Stitcher's Sampler we did

2) the forum SAL were we all share our progress on a current project by posting pictures.This way we are virtually stitching along with the person who is creating the picture. Sometimes we do this just to share and sometimes because we need the motivation of others to finish a picture.

To me a WIP is a project that is being worked on, on a regular basis and that we have an ending in sight. Even if it is a long term goal.

And a UFO is a project that for one reason or another has been started with good intentions of finishing and yet has not been worked on and the stitcher does not know when or if it will be finished.

I am sure that if it is causing confusion as to what should be added to that section then Alex could change the name to Work In Progress.

I can ask him to make the change or you all can send him a PM to request that it be changed.

I rather like your idea of a SAL as a virtual stitch-a-long -- because we do all "stitch along" with each other and encourage and praise and admire so I'm quite happy with the name, even if it isn't perhaps the traditional name for a section like that.

I like your explanation of SAL Rose. I always thought that was what it meant I had not heard of the other way SAL could be used until I came on to this forum.

I agree with Rose too. I like the idea of a 'virtual' SAL.

When I first joined the site I was confused by the term 'SAL' thinking it was only for the traditional SAL's, but then I realised it was covering both SAL's and WIP's and I soon got used to it.

I am now really confused I add anything I start to work on in the SAL section as thats what I thought I should do but if I post something in the wrong section perhaps someone can tell me thanks I tend to think of WIP and SAL as the same thing

I always figured the SAL forum section was named for the reason that Rose said; for everyone to get together and post their stitching progress (technically like we're all in the same room stitching together "Stitching alongside" each other so to speak heh)

But then there's the other meaning for SAL where there is a specific design that a number of people are stitching at the same time, like the Cross Stitch Sampler a while back.

So really there is two definitions for SAL? That's what I think anyways

I don't think we should change the name of the Stitch-a-long section. I know there's the traditional meaning of SAL as something that a group of people are stitching and posting pictures about, but I really like our meaning of it with everyone virtually stitching with us on our WIPs. Personally I got used to the layout of the forum pretty quickly and haven't worried about whether we're using the perfectly correct names or not. We don't seem to have too many traditional SALs and it would seem a shame to separate them out from the other WIPs when the traditional SAL will also be a WIP for the people doing it anyway.

I don't see the need to change the name either. I always thought of it as a virtual stitching along type thing as well.. Especially when benches start getting placed near certain threads
Faith

I think we must be the only forum with virtual stitchalongs and magic benches, not to mention a pub and a hospital !

Don't forget about the stash van

Mabel Figworthy wrote:I think we must be the only forum with virtual stitchalongs and magic benches, not to mention a pub and a hospital !

and the frog cafe