Anyone have any thoughts on how to unclutter unfinished projects?
I have a blanket that I have been crocheting for...wait for it...17 years. I started it my freshman year of college, and the last time I worked on it I was still in grad school (this was over 7 years ago). I can't get myself to throw it away...it is almost done! I spent so much time on it! What to do?!
Finish it.
LOL, Zora!
Camellia, I have to agree. Pull out everything you need to finish that blanket, keep it in your den with your TV (or wherever you spent your "me" time), and every time you sit down to watch a show or make a phone call or whatever, pick up the crochet needle and get hooking. It'll be done in no time.
And then you can post a picture. :-)
I had bought a cross stitch kit that I nearly finish except for the border. I attempted to work on it over the years but I couldn't finish it. I took a couple of photos of it then tossed it in the trash. It was very liberating. I think about it every time I get tempted to try a new hobby.
"I have a blanket that I have been crocheting for...wait for it...17 years."
Wow, how big is the blanket now? :D
(Couldn't resist.)
I hooked a rug for at least that long which started as a college art project. I'd sit in front of the tv all night and get ONE row done. It was so pretty though. Then I use to worry about running out of the yarn.
You are not alone! LOL.
Is it your only project? Or one of several?
If you have more than one, i vote toss this one.
I actually started a weekly knitting group last winter, just so I could finish projects & clear them out.
Me?
I have dozens of projects going! (Not sure where the rug is.)
I am also writing several books. Oh, do I love to write.
I need the structure of a writing class. I have only taken one writing course and that was in Spanish. Tremendous course with a phenomenal professor.
If I cannot do a project in one sitting, I get distracted and move on to something else that catches my interest. I am all over the place- very creative actually.
My sister is equally creative but she gets things done!
I have too many ideas.
When I taught, I use to make games (like board games) for the kids. Usually I had third grade. I got very good at it. The kids liked my games better than the store-bought stuff. Now those games I was usually quite good at getting done. That was my idea of fun.
But I could often get them done in one, two or three sittings and bring the game in the next day to gauge the kids' enthusiasm. That was half the fun!
Good idea, Rosa, about your knitting group!
I had two beautiful, detailed cross-stitches half done. My sister loves cross-stitch so I passed them on to her and she finished them in a very short time (weeks, whereas I had taken about 3 years to get to the halfway point--she is the family Martha) and they were gorgeous.
I was so happy to see the back of them (pun intended, and immediately regretted)
What a liberating feeling. Now I have creative outlets in different ways, but none that weigh on me nor count as clutter, despite the space they require.
Maybe give yourself a realistic time frame. If you have young kids in school then it is not realistic to say you will get it done in the summer, but perhaps by the end of September or October. If it is not done by a certain date you will have to donate it and all the supplies in a big bag to a charity shop. Or it goes in the garbage.
If it really matters to you you will get it done. And if it really doesn't, and somewhere inside you feel your goals and desires have changed, let it go.
In the past I have successfully used the question: Does this support my current goals? (i.e. support the idea of the life I want to live, the decor I want to have, my idea of myself and my changing tastes) If I can honestly say yes then it stays. If I say no it goes. Sometimes we hold onto things because they reflect who or what we USED TO want to be, not who we are now. It is a form of uncluttering to get rid of old goals and think clearly about new ones.
LOL @Zora's "Finish it". Yeah! :oD
The bad thing about unfinished projects is that they often cost us so much valuable time, we are so emotionally attached to them that it's hard to just throw them out, we want "our baby" to get into good hands... I'm wondering about the "Does this support my current goals/lifestyle?" question with my unfinished project mammoth, a patchwork quilt that I started and almost (!) finished when I was 18 and haven't touched since, but moved 3 times (I'm 30 now), and a few younger sewing projects that are half-done. A few of them, including the quilt, match each other but not my current decor style; still, I could make changes to make them match (that would be more work though). For the last years, I thought "I'll just keep them until I find someone who would love to finish them" -- that's why they're still there. Now that you asked, I'm not so sure anymore ;o)
@Rosa, the weekly group is genious! :o)
Trillie I think I read somewhere that you were in Berlin?(pestering DH to make that a destination this summer)
there is a stitch & bitch meetup group there: http://www.toytowngermany.com/lofi/index.php/t127711.html
and in general for people who need a boost and social time to move on the hobbies, there is an easy way to find people for meetups in your area. http://www.meetup.com/about/
Some colleagues and I did this a few years back--got together, cooked dinner together, and worked each on our own projects. One was knitting, one scrap-booking, and I have no idea what was mine then:)
@djk, you're right, and thank you for the suggestions! I know about this kind of places/meetings and did have a sewing group with a few friends in Potsdam a while ago, and I completed a few nice small sewing projects :o) I guess the problem with the (insert swear words here) quilt is that I just haven't made my mind up about it... yet ;o)
Also, if you really do visit Berlin in summer, tell me if you like -- if I'm not away, I'd be happy to do some touristy stuff for a couple of hours :o)
camellia - have you considered finding out if anyone you know also crochets? Maybe somebody would be willing to pick it up and finish it so they can use it in their home. :)
Have you considered that there might be an environmental reason you can't finish? I had a king-sized quilt that took 20 years to complete. I really wanted the finished project and enjoyed the process so I didn't understand why I wasn't working on it. I finally realized that I didn't have a good place to quilt in my home and wasn't motivated to work in an uncomfortable manner. I took it to my mom's house and visited her twice a week for quilting, gossip, and general family time. My new quilting environment is so nice that I've started a new quilt that won't take 20 years to finish.
Thanks so much for all the suggestions everyone! I guess I should add, I probably have about 3 days worth of work to finish this thing (which, spread out over several evenings wouldn't be so bad) and I'm not quite as attached to the colors and general style as I was 17 years ago. But I still think I will really like this blanket when it is done.
@GardenGirl, I'm not sure how big it is...but as you can imagine, it's big. Probably big enough to use on a full size bed.
@Rosa, it's my only craft project, but my general project list (clean out the basement, paint the front door, etc.) is a mile long. But I think I can squeeze this blanket in after I get the basement cleaned out. I'm amazed at how much I have already gotten done in the 6 months since I started decluttering.
I love the idea of a knitting group to finish this, and the suggestion regarding the environmental reason from MelMc. Actually, I think there may be an environmental reason, but not the same that MelMc had mentioned- I think my problem is that after 17 years of being moved, toted around, stored in the basement, etc., it needs to be washed, and since it is very heavy cotton I'm not sure how to go about this. So maybe once I figure that out I can finally sit down and enjoy crocheting my blanket again :)
Thanks again all :)
One unfinished project is not that big a deal. That's practically all the way uncluttered.
That said, can you just put a placeholder in it (does that work with crochet? I knit, and they have those giant-safety-pin things for keeping work from unraveling) and run it through a washing machine on gentle, then dry it flat? Then it would be clean and nice to work with. Pack your nice clean blanket into a tote bag and have it all ready to go when you have time to work on it.
Those are craft UFO's - UnFinished Objects. Consider redirecting them. Big quilt tops that won't go into current bedroom color schemes can be chopped into sections. Think tote bags, purses, throw or floor pillows for another room, etc. Or maybe, especially in the case of something crocheted that won't section well, consider finishing it and giving it to a charity to be auctioned/raffled off during a fund raiser. Promise it to the charity by a certain fundraiser date and you'll have all the pressure you need to finish it quickly!
a couple of weeks ago, in the victoria and albert museum, i went to a quilt exhibition with a gf who is also textile-mad.
o the quilts!
ranging from fragile things hundreds and hundreds of years old, with mellowed tones, to very modern amazing pieces.....some done by women, some made by male prisoners in wandsworth prison....they were just amazing, all of them.
every style and colour you could imagine. all sorts of fabrics and materials.
they ALL had one thing in common...they were completely finished.
they made me want to get home and start quilting.
but i know it will end in tears and not in the V&A museum.
bandicoot, you slay me! "I know it will end in tears."
Suggestion: make little bitty tiny quilts. You get all the satisfaction of creating something beautiful, in a manageable length of time, with more freedom to choose materials because hey, it's small, and your end product can be simply put in a frame instead of you having to redesign an entire room around it. I've seen some work of this nature on Etsy and it's not far off what I do myself.
Big pieces of handwork are great, but they can take over your life.
I have an unfinished applique quilt kit sitting in a plasic tote in the garage. I paid a lot of money for it several years ago on eBay. It's a replacement (and exact same pattern) as one I started years ago and never finished. I actually donated the original kit to the Goodwill about 3 years after I got stuck on finding one of the little pieces when doing it the first time. Then, 15 years later, I decided to give it one more try, so I found it on eBay and got caught in a bidding war for the thing and got carried away and paid too much for it. Now it's awaiting my old age for completion. I guess this means I win the prize for hoarding this week.
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