Tuesdays with Dory

Check out the new bed Kristen bought me! She calls it a "doormat," I think she's just confused.

Dear Dory,

I have so many WIPs, I'm starting to feel overwhelmed. Any advice for cutting down my active projects to a realistic number? When I look at them, I just can't bear to frog!

Indecisive in Idaho

Dear Indecisive,

I like to help Kristen decide which WIPs to give up on by occasionally chewing on some of them. She never wants to knit with slobbery yarn. Here's how I decide which projects to eat:

• The yarn is wrong: it's too thin, too heavy, too fuzzy, too something. Whatever's wrong with it, finishing the project isn't going to help. You're still going to hate the yarn/project combo, so don't waste your time. Just rip it.
• The pattern is missing: of course, if you bought a digital download, you're still in business. But if it's a paper pattern, chances are you'll never see it again. And unless you REALLY love the project, you're probably not going to buy another copy. So don't kid yourself. Riiiiiiiiiiiip.
• You've forgotten where you are: Of course, you should make a good faith effort to figure it out, especially if you like the project, but if you just can't, there's no reason to leave it in your WIP basket for years and years, thinking that eventually things will click and you'll find your way. Hug it and say goodbye.
• You've made a grave error that has no easy fix: You'll find lots of tips online for fixing mistakes without ripping back rows and rows of knitting, but unfortunately, some errors just aren't fixable. The only solution is to rip back and reknit, which, depending on the project, can seem unfathomable. If the thought of reknitting a large portion of your project makes you cry and bury it in the bottom of the basket, just take the plunge and frog the whole thing.
• It doesn't fit: It's true, sometimes gauge swatches lie. The result is a garment that doesn't fit. And the thing is, it's never going to fit. You're not going to gain or lose 20 pounds. Your arms aren't going to grow or shrink a few inches. Your feet probably aren't going to swell to twice their normal size. Minor size errors can sometimes be overcome (ex: add cuffs to the sleeves), but if your sweater simply does not fit your body, frog it and move on.
• It's been in your WIP basket for X number of years: Only you can decide what a reasonable cut off point is, but pick one and stick with it. If you haven't gotten around to finishing the project during the last year/decade/century, you probably never will.

Hope you find these guidelines helpful!

Have a purrrrrrrfect day!

Dory

p.s. Kristen tells me she told you guys she's going to have a baby. I don't know what a baby is, really, but Kristen seems to be eating a lot of extra chocolate. Anyway, she promises not to turn this into a blog about pregnancy--whatever that is--but she did want to share this cute photo from the party I spent the weekend hiding from: