Friday, February 29, 2008

Too much of a good thing?

I have 72 patterns in my Ravelry queue. How many do you have? There's no way I'll ever be able to knit all these things. I probably have even more than thay in my Knitting Patterns folder. And the number keeps growing.

I could just delete some of these and get back down to a more realistic number. I have more than a plenty of pattern books. I just printed out a new free Berocco pattern this morning. There's something almost gluttonous about this. A frenzy. I wonder if it might even be a bit unhealthy.

Of course I buy yarn the same way. No one needs this much yarn. But it's so much fun to acquire it. It's like not wanting to be left out.

How am I going to deal with all this? How am I going to decide what actually gets knit and which yarn I'll use? My friend Bess has an idea that I think I can adapt. She has a creativity jar that she filled with things she wants to accomplish. Each week or so she draws something from the jar and goes with it. Maybe if I wrote the names of some these patterns on little strips of paper and then drew one out and matched it with something from my stash and then packaged it all in one of those heavy zip top bags. Maybe that would at least give me some idea of where I'm going.

On the other hand I could just delete some of the patterns and give away some of the yarn. But where's the fun in that?

9 comments:

Anonymous said...

We could choose for you! Tell your readers what you feel like tackling (socks, hat, sweater, shawl), then list the patterns. We vote, you knit, showing us your progress along the way. (You could decide on the yarn.)

You would retain your right to veto.

- Susan S

Monika said...

I have the same problem. Too much yarn, to many patterns, some fague own ideas. The last thing I would want is someone telling me what to do next. When I'm done with one projects, I enjoy the freedom to choose my next one for a minute, after that I look around, and suddenly it pops in my head, what to do next. Sometimes I already know while still knitting/spinning the current project. It should be fun, it IS fun. Don't give away your yarn yet! :o)

Janice Rosema said...

Having that many projects in your queue indicates an optimistic spirit to my way of thinking. That's my story and I'm sticking to it. As disciplined as you are Larry, you will finish them all and be looking for more!

Bess said...

Oh do give the CJ a try. I'm having such fun with it. First off - if I pull out an idea that doesn't excite me I put it back. I even search through the whole jar looking for the idea I want to try this week. Because the whole point is to have fun but not get into a rut.

And best of all - I am doing things I'd always wanted to do but never did get around to doing - those knitted flowers - man I've thought about them forEVER. Now I am thinking about ways to use the flowers instead of how to make them.

happy sunday to you my stash enhanced friend.

Temperance said...

Too many things I want to knit, not enough yarn (is there such a thing as enough?) And definitly not enough time. But I find it strangely satisfying to have the queue and go in and rearrange it every so often. I think the reall secret is knowing what to put in the queue and what to put in favorites for contemplation later.

lexa said...

I know I'll never knit everything I want to. The pattern collection is way too huge. I don't have much in the stash beside sock yarn, but even so, that's a lot of sock knitting.

Anonymous said...

I have 0 projects in my queue. That way, I can stay ahead. Unlike the stash...which defeats me no matter where I look. But I will look forward to seeing your 72 projects gradually show up here. :)

Fay Lynn said...

The queue is your creative jar. Just ideas floating around that will inspire you towards your next project which may or not be in the queue. I treat the queue and my favorites as inspiration and one can not have too many ideas for inspiration!

I love the Creativity Jar!

Anonymous said...

I have over 160 projects in my queue and I know I'll never knit all of them. But...that doesn't stop me from adding more, one day I'll go back through them all and perhaps find a couple that I've fallen out of lust with but for now, they all stay put.