Tip: Finish or Frog Party

While Kim frantically pushes on with her WIP completion, let's talk about our first WIP Down tip.  This is one of the most important, and can be fun.  Or at least liberating.

Supplies needed:
ALL your WIPs
2 large bins/baskets/storage devices (or space for 2 piles)
1 medium bin/basket/storage device
2 smallish storage bin/basket/storage device
Special Treat of your choice

Find a comfy place to sit with enough space for you, your WIPs, and the 2 large bins to all be within handy reach.  Gather all your WIPs to you (even the ones you tries to hide in your car or your work bag) and take a deep breath.

STEP 1 - SORT
Pick a WIP up from the pile.  Evaluate it.

• Do you still want it?
• Do you still have the pattern?
• Do you love the yarn pattern combination?
• Have you completed more than a swatch's worth or work?

If the answer to these is yes, put it back in the project bag and toss is in bin #1 - the Finish Bin.
If the answer is no, toss it in bin #2 - the Frog Bin.

Repeat the process with each and every WIP.  When the pile is gone, rejoice at how many fewer WIPs you have in the Finish Bin than you started with.  Find a place to put the Finish Bin; you're done with it for now.

STEP 2 - FROG
Now, grab the Frog Bin, the medium bin, and the 2 smaller bins.  It's time to start frogging.

Grab a project, pull out the needles/hooks, and start re-balling the yarn.  Put the re-balled yarn in the medium bin.  Use one small bin for needles, hooks, stitch markers, and any other items you find in the projects bags.  Use the second small bin for now-empty project bags.

Repeat with all the projects in The Frog Bin.

STEP 3 - CLEAN UP
This is a very important step.  Part of the fun of frogging is reclaiming all those things you forgot you had/thought you lost.  Make sure your needles, hooks, and accessories get put in their proper places.  This is also a good time to check up on your Ravelry stash and make sure all the yarn you just frogged is there.  Lastly, go through your Ravelry project pages and mark your frogged projects as "Frogged."

If you have a lot of WIPs, get some friends to help.  They can wind yarn or update Ravelry for you as you continue sorting.  They can also be great support as you go through the process.  The sorting isn't easy and it can be hard to stay on track.

When finished, make sure to reward them and yourself with some treats.

The Day Two Slump

We have a field report from Kim today. I asked her to keep us apprised of her WIP progress for the day, and this is what she said:

I grabbed the mitten and a hat WIP (Ewa if that matters) and headed off to work at the LYS. I helped someone else start a pair of the mittens and while doing that I finished the thumb. Now I just need to embroider both mitts and they are done!

Okay Kim, first of all, of COURSE it matters what WIP you take! There are .... shall we say.... several hats to choose from in your pile so it's good to know what made it out there into the world. And, great job on the progress!

There are multiples of several styles of hats in WIP Mountain (Divine hat anyone?).  We need to know what's making the cut.  Loving the forethought of taking WIPs with you!

Then Kim went on ...

 On a less positive note,

Oooohhh noooooooo.....

That's not what we like to hear.

... the LYS Owner wants a shop sample, so I'm going to make another mitt, possibly a pair. However, I can work on it at the store since it's for them, and judging by history I should have it done next week.

Ack! Another WIP on WIP Mountain. On top of WIP Moouuuuuntain..... all covered in mitts......

Dood, Stephanie, knock that off.

Fine, fine. You wanna tie today's report up in a bow for us, Kati? Preferably without butchering any songs?

Some days, there are setbacks - things beyond our control (like bosses who CLEARLY do not understand the size of WIP Mountain).  The important thing is to not let it throw you off track.  Tomorrow you'll get back on that horse and keep chipping away (are mixed metaphors better or worse than butchered songs?).  We know Kim and she will still get those 30 WIPs done by the end of the month.

December Damage - A Beginning

Every big undertaking has to begin somewhere, and Kim's big challenge for December began with finishing one of my WIPs - a pair of Harvest Hands mitts. They are so quick and adorable that it's easy to get caught up in the magic and think that you can start another pair, and another... but it's a steady downward spiral and the next thing you know, your little crochet hooks are haunting your dreams!

Okay Kim, you're off to a good start! 

December Damage count: 1 WIP completed

Hello and Welcome...

I'm Kati and I'm Stephanie and we're the WIP Avengers (insert billowing capes here)!

We know how it is: you see a pattern and you just HAVE TO HAVE IT, you get bored easily, or maybe things didn't turn out the way you thought they would.  Whatever the reason, you have a pile a WIPs so large you're using it as a couch.  We're here to help.

We'll be using this space to follow our friend, Kim, as she works to reduce her WIPs from over 100.  In addition, we'll be sharing tips to help you get your WIP Mountain under control.  What makes us experts, you ask?  Well, we've been where you are and we've come back from the brink.

Let's do our first check-in with Kim.  In looking over her list, we found she had a lot of quick finishes, e.g buttons to be added,  laying around so we challenged Kim to finish 30 WIPs in the month of December. She has about 100 WIPs, so this will give her a nice push and a good start towards a new way of being.