Thursday, May 22, 2008

To do or not to do, that is the problem


Even though there are several projects clamouring for attention, their pitiful voices lost among the madness that is my home I still want to cast on something new. I think it must be the novelty factor I like, the opportunity that exists at that moment before it begins to look a little less perfect than I thought, or I realise that the colour isn’t quite right or that I’ve misread the pattern and I am ending up with a different garment. I know the longer a project goes on the less interested I am in it until we reach that point where it only takes a last concerted effort and hey presto you have the finished garment.
I thought that casting on different projects would keep me engaged, after all even someone with the attention span of a minus 2 year old should be able to find 5 or 6 projects to choose from interesting and stimulating. Alas all that means is I have three times as much mess and chaos with projects overflowing from every available surface and receptacle. I even tried dedicating a cupboard to knitting and sewing paraphernalia except it wouldn’t all fit in there no matter how much I tried to squeeze the door shut. It would have been easier to try and get an elephant in the fridge.

I would love to be the sort of person who sees one thing through to the end without getting distracted by the sale of some yarn or the glimpse of someone else’s project.
I am going to write all my projects on a list and see if that clears my head a bit. It might although I have a sneaky feeling that the list will be so long that I’ll have to throw in some random number generating to eliminate or more kindly relegate projects.
I have ¾s of a jumper waiting to be finished. This jumper has waited three years for an arm. What project have you had lying around for the longest? What would motivate you to finish it?

11 comments:

Anonymous said...

Your post made me smile, having grown up with my mothers many projects I am somewhat opposite. I do procrastinate once the knitting is finished though as I really do not enjoy the sewing together. How about a small quick project as a treat? Good luck with the nearly finished jumper too.

Louise said...

I am like this in the garden, I flit from pillar to post! x

Kitty said...

I'm feeling very pleased with myself as I sorted out my fabric stash last weekend: have been meaning to do it for almost a year :-O It's not all in plastic tubs, according to colour and I know what I've got and where. It won't stay like it of course, but for now I'm happy.

x

April said...

I am ashamed to say that I have never finished the very first cross stitch picture I started over 15 years ago - BUT the reason I didn't is because it had the pattern stamped on it and I very quickly realised I didn't like that way of working.

April xx

Sue said...

I have the same problem with casting on for new projects. I keep them in a plastic container and when I feel the urge to finish something I pull it out of the container and see what is left to do. That way there is never any boredom with so many projects, and sometimes I actually finish 2 projects in a week. My oldest UFO is a jacket for my partner which has been sitting there for nearly 2 years now. I havent even got up to the armholes on the back but I will finish it one day.

Elizabeth said...

Wellll, I'm one of those irritating people who always finish what they start ;)
That doesn't mean I won't start a new project before one is finished though.
My oldest project is a Jade Starmore intarsia cardigan with one sleeve and a collar to go. The only reason I have not finished is that the style is a little outdated and I have to figure out how to save it so that it is wearable. It was too expensive to turn into a pillow!

Ragged Roses said...

I'm always flitting from one thing to another, inspired to start something new all the time. I have so many half finished projects dotted around our home!
Kimx

Down on the Farm said...

Baskets! I have many baskets with UFO's in them. I was ill a couple of months ago and had no energy to start filling another basket because that would mean getting up, choosing new yarn, new patterns, making decisions so...I started emptying baskets (finishing projects). I would not suggest getting sick as a way to finish a project! As for the reason I keep starting new projects, I enjoy the challenge of learning something new. When I have what I am working on at the present time under my belt (so to speak) I am ready to go on to something else. Bored? NO, I never use that word. Whatever, I just like the challenge of something new. I do finish what I start however, maybe not this year, maybe not before it goes out of style, but they all get finished.

Willow said...

I think we all relate to the knitting and cupboard dilemna. Too many elephants around here. While I was working on the Knitting Guild's master hand knitting program I would get to a problem I'd have to solve or encounter a stitch or pattern I couldn't 'get' and I'd stash the whole thing away for a month or two and ruminate on my frustration. Three levels and eight years later, I finally finished it. Is that a record?

Let's see: well, I am finally on the second arm of a Cashsoft sweater for myself. It languished for a year with front and back sewn together, collar and front bands finished and one arm knitted to the armhole. I also have a crocheted afghan that lives on the guest bed with the unwoven ends artistically tucked underneath.

Willow said...

Oh, and sewing projects. I'm much much worse about those. Quilts, one of them that my mother 'almost' finished and handed over to me. And she died in 1994. And we've moved four times since then.

Ally Jay said...

it was great to hear that I am not alone out there with my UFOs. I will take heart and allow them some space to chillout and tackle them when I get to them.