My top 3 tips for Spring Project Cleaning

It's time for some Spring Cleaning! 

I don't know about you, but I get a major bee in my bonnet to take stock of all of the projects on my needles this time of year. I think it might be because things are the teensiest bit slower in the shop, giving me more time and mental space to focus on these types of things. 

I'm preparing for my first house guest in 14 months, and ohdearlordcanthingsslipinthatamountoftimetheDUSTalone!

I digress. In cleaning up the house, I realized a certain area had grown out of control:

My knitting area is housed in our family room, which means every time I'm sitting in there watching a movie with the fam or chilling out to my latest TV obsession (hello Made for Love), the presence of my stash and pile of WIPs is looming just over my left shoulder. Whispering. Cajoling. Sometimes even name-calling. 

The first WIP to get my attention was my Fiadh. I busted through this deliciously cabled sweater - through the body, through the shawl collar/front bands, even through the fingering weight pocket linings. And then after one sleeve, with just one sleeve left to go, I put it down. Why do I/we do this?!?! So I picked this puppy back up and KNOCKED. IT. OUT. 

Next up - my Azalea. This was our Spring KAL, and I stalled out (surprise surprise) when distracted by shiny new projects. There wasn't much left, so I knocked this one out pretty fast.

Finally, my second Soundtrack. I started this last summer, right after finishing my first one. I was all gung ho, and I absolutely loved how the Entropy DK worked in the yoke pattern. But, as soon as I finished that last row with the Entropy, I just put it down and forgot all about it. Once my Fiadh was done, this languishing WIP was lurking over my shoulder, so I picked it back up last Saturday morning, determined to make it at least to the sleeve divide. And guess what? Not only did I get past the sleeve divide, but I knocked out BOTH sleeves as well! 

I even managed to make progress on a couple other shawl WIPs that I will cover in a future post. 

If you would like to do a little Spring WIP cleaning yourself, here are my top 3 tips for getting the most out of your time: 

1. Don't Force It: like anything we do in life, if our heart isn't in it, we won't do it well. It's the same with busting out old projects - you have to be in the right frame of mind and spirit to pick up a five year old project and attack it like there's no tomorrow. If you aren't feeling it right now, come back when you are. (And if you're really not feeling it - like deep-down-in-your-bones not feeling it, it might be time to pull out that needle and set 'er free. That's right - rip it out. Your time and your gorgeous yarn are too precious to waste in lackluster projects!) 
2. Break Up the Work: Pick manageable goals or milestones within the project - don't force yourself to work on it exclusively until it's done. You'll feel more free in your work and less burdened by the old project. Give yourself small rewards for reaching your goals (cup of coffee, piece of chocolate, or just moving on to a more enjoyable project for a while). 
3. Complete Them Completely: If you're going to tackle finishing up an old WIP, do it entirely. It will feel so satisfying to get that project checked off your list - to have it seamed, ends woven, and blocked. Off your needles and off your mind! 

There  you have it - think you're ready to tackle a few WIPs yourself?