Finish for Fall: The Finish

"The best-laid schemes o' mice an' men/Gang aft agley..."***                                             To The Mouse by Robert Burns

We studied this poem in school and I'll never forget our teacher reading it off as written in the Scottish-y dialect that only Robert Burns ever seemed to get away with. In fact, I hear this line in my head, in her voice, to this day (many many years later) when plans don't go as I had expected.

I hear it in my head now.  My plan for Finish for Fall included a Total Organization of ALL Yarn and Yarn-Related Items.  It was a good plan, and while I did make progress, I didn't make all the progress I had wanted to make. I have to decide that, for now, this is OK. I managed to complete some projects, frog some others, and recover many needles and stitch markers.  I donated a bag of yarn and accessories and I ended up with a bag full of now empty knitting bags. I also have the resolve to not fill all those bags back up with half-finished work, then shove them in the closet. To date, of the 14 projects I found, only 4 remain. They are on the back burner, but having seen them recently, I can't soon forget them. And it's OK.

The journey is sometimes as important as the destination, and in this case, the fact that I was able to travel on this journey with YOU made it special and I am extremely glad to have undertaken it.

***Less Scottish: "The best-laid plans of mice and men often go awry."

Some of the yarn I rediscovered <3

Finish for Fall, part 2

Finish for Fall makes me want to dance for joy! Or at least find a dancer to model a finished project: The Charleston Indigo Scarf

So it's been a week since I admitted to the world the appalling state of my yarn stash/unfinished objects/knitting storage.  I will now further humble myself with photographic evidence of my progress:

I found 14 projects tucked away (2 not pictured). That's a lot of unfinished business!

My progress was slowed by the constant need to stop and untangle yarn balls.

By the time I was through getting it all organized, I had one bag of yarn to put away, one bag of knitting projects to finish and a basket of odd-ball yarn to make decisions about. And a head, but that's a story for another day.

Since that first day of digging it all out, I have frogged 6 projects, bound off one where it was (it was a swatch)(sorta), and completed the knitting on both a random dishcloth and the Charleston Indigo Scarf.  14 - 9 = 5!  I now have a very full tin of stitch markers, several more sets of needles and an abundant supply of row counters that had all been "in use" for years in some cases.

There is still much to do, of course, and I know I will be casting on new projects (for new designs I'm writing) long before I finish my Cold Mountain shawl or some of the other projects still on needles.  That's why my list is coming in handy.  The next step for me is to develop my time-table for finishing that big project and even more importantly, to stay "solvent". My plan to Finish for Fall has given me a new resolve to not let things languish or get pushed aside into a dark closet or drawer.

I started this beaded wrap several years ago. Frogged!

I started this random dishcloth (what were those eyelets all about??) last spring. Finished!!

How about you? Did you start this Finish for Fall project, too?  How is it going?  Is it helping? I'd love to hear about it. If you feel brave, share with us in the Ravelry group. If you're too mortified by how much you found lurking in the shadows, post an anonymous comment and know that you're not alone.