Frog or finish every single (freaking) ufo I have laying around. Languishing projects drive me crazy. CRAY-Z. It's just one of my things.
To take stock in those projects I am going to sadly remind myself and you all about them so I can really see the horror I have created.
First, the absolutely must finish category
1. Mystery Stole 3
It's actually further than this, but I can't seem to find a more recent picture. I got all the way to the clue in which the wing started, then I put it away to wait for the finished product so I could decide what I wanted to do. Turns out, I want to make it symmetrical, but I ac tually need to work on it to make that happen.
2. The Bee Stole
I test knit this for Anne of Knitspot.com and I just never got back to it. I started the second half, but I got distracted again.
3. DH's sweater.
Um...yeah. I am about 2" into this one, I don't know what's holding me back. I LOVE doing stockinette in the round, really - maybe I"m crazy, but the rows seem to zoom by, I don't know what my issue is with this.
The Frog or Finish Category
1. The EZ Fair Isle sweater. It hurts to work on, that's all I've got for you.
I may frog it & use the yarn for something else.
2. The Felted Entrelac Bag
All I've got is two rows of the border done, I'm not sure what the deal is here.
3. Mentionable (Ravelry link) by Wendy Bernard
I love this pattern, and I was halfway done when I tried it on & realized I had knit a size too big...so...I just never went back to it.
4. One odd felted bag I started knitting just for the heck of it with some random sale wool I found at a big box store. It's halfway done, and I could easily finish it, but I have no idea what size needle I used. I could probably guess, it will be felted after all, as long as I was within a size or two it should be reasonably okay.
So there's the list. That's not so bad. Of course I have yarn for all sorts of projects that I never even started, but I don't think they count b/c that yarn can just be repurposed.
I see a common thread running through that - either I remember getting distracted and moving on or there's "I don't know what happened". Either way, I can see that I am reasonably decent at finishing things but every once in a while something bright and new and shiny distracts me and I jump off to knit something else, and by then the other project is yesterday's news, and who wants to go back to that??
I need to see if I can prevent myself from doing that.
Oh & fyi, I know that there are things I have mentioned in the past month or so & haven't finished yet - I routinely have 7-8 things on the needles in active rotation, so for me it's not a UFO as long as it's still in my knitting bag and I've gone back to it in the last month or so.
I was trying to do this last fall, but Christmas knitting took over, I want to go back and finish (or at least make serious progress on) one UFO in between each new FO until I get rid of that list.
And, as I tell my students, it's really important that your goals are SMART - specific, measurable, attainable, reasonable, and timely. If they don't fit that criteria, it's hard to see where you are going AND to look back and see if you've acheived them. I think this fits the criteria...so let's see how I do with that.
good luck! your list looks doable, especially if you decide to frog anything. it is so easy to get distracted by shinny new projects, though, isn't it? and anne's constant stream of new projects (i'm already loving her snow shawl) does NOT help!
Posted by: amanda | January 18, 2008 at 07:23 PM
Well, that looks manageable. When do you think you'll pull the trigger on the "frog" category? I think sometimes that's the hardest thing. I should probably just frog the hanami stole and use the yarn and beads for something else, but I can't quite bring myself to do it... With only three UFOs lurking, I'm not feeling as pressured to be decisive as I probably should!
Posted by: Jocelyn | January 19, 2008 at 07:24 PM
That list isn't too bad. Languishing projects are the worst guilt trip ever, though. What yarn did you use for the Bee Stole? I love the color!
Posted by: Erica | January 20, 2008 at 03:15 PM
I hear ya! I need to finish the MS3 (I want to do the symmetrical version too) and a few other things floating around here. I have a list of stuff I really want to cast-on for but have succeeded in resisting so far.
The Bee Stole looks beautiful!
Posted by: Monica | January 21, 2008 at 10:55 AM
excellent resolutions! I say frog, frog away and start fresh!
Posted by: amanda | January 23, 2008 at 11:51 AM