Operation Get to Zero

There are a couple projects I've got going on that are dragging me down. Do you know that feeling of a constant nagging in the back of your mind because you've got something to do but you're putting it off and not doing it? That's what these projects are. Most of them are over a year old and they have gone untouched for very long. I really want to (need to) focus on finishing them up over the next 4 months. I know that they're sitting there waiting, hoping that I'll pick them up, and it's hard to start new things or have new ideas or learn new techniques when you know you haven't finished everything you've started.

So I've made the goal of Getting to Zero: finishing all of my languishing WIPs so I can feel free to embrace new ideas. Just get a little piece of mind.

I made myself a schedule. This is a tentative schedule. I feel like just throwing a list of the projects at myself and saying I'll complete them "soon" won't be as productive as assigning myself due dates. But obviously, if I feel like knitting one thing in a different order, I can do that! And if I don't finish everything by the end of April, that's alright too, because that's not the point. The point is to just...get a move on, and work on finishing everything (eventually). 

January:

Log cabin for Dad. Of everything on this list, this is the one that I definitely work on the most. It gets picked up about every other month or so and worked on for a few days, but the problem is that it's so huge it's hard to see progress and I get bored fast. I just need to set myself up with a good movie or TV show (Netflix Parenthood marathon maybe??) and get to work. I actually started doing this last night, and I realise I'm so much closer to being done than I thought!

Snowman. I only realized recently (when my mother brought it to my attention) that I needed to finish this. I'd marked it as done all the way back in 2009, when it only had one arm. Oops. It probably would take an afternoon or two at worst, so I should just do it. If I do it now, it can still be enjoyed during this winter.


February:

Echo flower. I started this on the drive when moving to Kentucky, and then I missed home and missed my boyfriend so much that I had a mental block on this shawl and couldn't make myself work on it. I'm definitely ready now, though, so it's just a matter of picking it up again and getting to work.






Self-patterning toe-up socks. Of all the things on this list, these are definitely the easiest. I've already knit the first sock and I've got the toe (my least favorite part) of the second one finished. So I just need to get it on needles and keep it in my bag, and it'll practically knit itself.

March:

Wispy cardi. I stopped working on this because of the long stockinette rows of lace weight yarn. I really just need to pick it up again and get to work, because it's not as bad as I think. I'd love to (finally) be able to wear this in the spring and summer, so getting it done in March would be ideal.


April:

Fig Pi. This got set aside because it's a lot of stockinette with lace weight yarn. My only excuse now is that I really need my yarn scale for it, and my yarn scale is currently out of battery.

BMC. I have no excuse for this. The really really long rows put me off a bit, and the fact that I'm going to have to cast on 500+ stitches for the second part and then join that in the round without twisting seems way too hard of a feat. But let's face it: totally do-able.

Note: not saying I won't start new things or work on other things between now and then, because I totally will! Just that I'll make time to do this too! Fingers crossed.