The classic answer is, of course: one bite at a time. It is sensible advice whenever one is feeling overwhelmed (not actually eating an elephant – it’s a metaphor! though if it were a chocolate truffle elephant…).
After hanging up my knitted mask on Halloween, I began feeling a bit overwhelmed by the number of projects I have on the needles. So, I decided to list them out by project parts -- that way I can check things off and feel some sense of accomplishment. It will also help me work to a milestone (like the end of a cuff) on one project before shifting to another project. Otherwise, I tend to jump from project to project erratically. 6 rows of a sweater back, twice through a lace pattern, 2 rows of a blanket….It’s kind of a low-key panic.
So, I have (take a deep breath) 9 active projects going. Three are gifts (so there are deadlines). One is a sweater that I am doing along with our sweater workshop class (so I can’t really slack off on it). In addition, I am test- knitting Sarah’s “Bridgeport Fingerless Gloves,” designing a quechquemitl (like a small poncho)for our beginning knitters, and designing a baby dress for our layette class (January) . Then, there is the Humble Cardigan and the Zany Zcarf (both for myself – but also design projects).
These are all things I gotta get done – okay the last 2 are ones I would just like to have done so I can wear them, but that is legitimate, too.
It is kind of bizarre that my method of dealing with fragmentation (i.e. having 9 projects going at once) is to break things up into about 70 parts!
Next question: Where does a herd of elephants sleep?
Posted by: George | November 06, 2009 at 12:38 AM
Well at least if you eat an elephant you will not be hungry for a while!
Posted by: Angoragoblin | November 06, 2009 at 10:34 PM