...Progress?

Lee had a major revelation this weekend. He thought that this magic number that has veered between 25 and 45 since I've known him is actually the number of projects I have yarn for/are planning to make. I laughed when I found out that that’s what he thought. He was in total shock when I told him that no, that’s not the number of projects I could make. That number would probably be over 100, as I have about 30 cross stitches that are in packaging still, yarn for about 20 pairs of socks, two sweaters, nearly 20 random small projects and around 20 lbs of fleeces. I think I am set for awhile. I don't stash, but I do buy for specific projects. So my stash is a bag of ten skeins of Peru Luxury DK, two skeins of sock yarn, and a few skeins of acrylic sportweight that a friend had picked up for me from a garage sale. That and leftovers from previous projects. My stash may be small compared to most knitbloggers, but my queue is massive. My yarn content may reach nearly as much as many others, but it's all set aside for a purpose. The number, my friends, is actually the number of projects I've started at one point or another. Whether it was that I was so excited to have it that I cast on, then the magic died due to the stitch pattern or (in the case of the Frill) I screwed up so I have an extra one cast on and didn't realize it, it is the number of projects that are in any form other than the one I bought them in.

The count. So, the plan was to keep it under 30 works in progress. I have eight that I can’t work on as they’re at home (usually paintings that I just haven’t finished) and about ten that I just shouldn’t have started (three blankets, five cross stitch, a stole and an amigurumi). So that’s about eighteen that are definitely in hibernation, but I still count them as they’ve been started. If I consider those eighteen to be in hibernation, then a good number of in progress projects should be something between 20 and 25, a cross stitch, a fleece, one or two crochet items, and two to four knit items, so I can switch off between an intricate stole and a simple watching a movie pattern, and have a sock or two in my purse. It really should only be up to 23 using that logic, as I have a crochet blanket (or three) that are in hibernation that I should start working on, and a stole that is also in hibernation that should be the paying attention piece. I was going to make it a goal to get down to 23 and stay below 25, but then I realized that I'm knitting a bunch for Christmas. I'll probably be making everyone's first sock, then everyone's second sock for the design that I'm making for all my aunts in different colors. So the goal really is to just stay below 40 until the Christmas knitting is done. Stay below 40 and don't put anything on stitch holders to use the needles.

Now, what number am I at that I'm going to try to reduce? That is the question. As I have had a major case of start-itis recently, mostly when it comes to socks, I will be trying mostly to reduce the number of single socks I have. How many socks is that? Eight. Yes, I have eight socks either waiting for a mate or just started on the needles. One of these pairs of socks won't be continued on until October (I got the wrong contrasting color and only noticed after completing the cuff) but three of these pairs are in larger weight yarns, so those won't be too bad to finish. I think I can get down to only one or two pairs in progress by the end of the month.

Now, keeping in mind that eight works in progress are socks and eighteen are in hibernation (for a total of twenty-six, already blasting by the twenty-three...) the number of works in progress is ...

thirty-seven.

So that's fourteen more projects than there should be. I'm not going to set any number goals other than the keeping it manageable for Christmas - only Christmas gifts if I'm over 30, but I can cast on something for me if I'm under 30. Once the holiday knitting has been completed, then I'll worry about getting that number down closer to where it should be!