Phew!!
Here I am—someone who likes to plan ahead, who usually writes her blogs two weeks in advance—doing the exact opposite of my normal routine. All was going along just fine until I mislabeled a blog, thought it was the previous one, deleted it… and bang—gone. Then I realized I had saved the wrong blog under this title.
So now it’s 4:15 p.m., and I’m rushing to write my blog for Friday. Not my usual protocol at all.
Am I behind in my thoughts? Or so far ahead that I’m actually behind on the day I’m living in? Who knows. But here we go.
There are so many aspects of our lives that require some level of organization. Calendars help—as long as you don’t have three of them going at once. I have a store calendar and the calendar I carry in my purse. If I forget to transfer the store calendar into my personal one, things can get… interesting.
Like when someone shows up and says, “I’m here for class,” and I look at them blankly and ask, “Are you sure?”
What kind of fool am I? Of course, they’re sure. I’m the one who forgot to look at the store calendar before I left the night before. If I had written it in my personal calendar, all would have been well. I used to rely on my phone, but after it crashed—and took my calendar with it—I decided that wasn’t for me anymore.
Most of us work, stay deeply involved with our families, and juggle daily responsibilities. That alone can make keeping track of things a challenge.
And then people ask me… “How do you organize your yarn?”
That question always gets a big giggle—maybe even a full laugh. I’ve tried organizing by weight, by color, by fiber content. And somehow, in a moment of haste, it all ends up shoved into a drawer or cabinet… definitely not where it’s supposed to go.
Organizing projects? That’s another laughable subject.
I always start out strong, but when the calendar fills up, and my love of hobbies overtakes my free time—well… You know how that goes.
Truthfully, I do have a system, even if it’s a bit fluid. I keep unfinished projects in their own project bags—sometimes clear, sometimes a beautiful bag—and I try to place them in order of how quickly I can finish them. I write these commitments to myself in my journal so I don’t forget.
The projects that get priority are usually the ones that just need a little something: seaming, sleeves, or weaving in ends. When I finish one of those easier incomplete projects, I rotate in something that’s about halfway done. I work on that alongside an existing project. Once that one gets finished (not the existing one—are you still with me?), I move on to another simple incomplete project.
So I guess you could say I plan my unfinished projects by complexity and by how much is left to finish.
Many people love using Ravelry to keep track of projects. For me? Ravelry turns into another nut to chase (yes—squirrel). If I’m not careful, I’ll end up buying another pattern. I already have 13 pages of patterns saved “to make someday.”
I’m starting to laugh at myself as I write this. How do I keep things straight?
Every now and then, I go into my unfinished-works closet—floor to ceiling, wall to wall, absolutely full of yarn and projects. Slowly, I’ve started organizing it. And I no longer feel bad taking something apart and recycling the yarn when I look at it and think, What in the world was I thinking?
There’s also that baby sweater I started for my grandson… who is now 21 years old. I now have great-grandbabies—all girls. Enough said.
So how can we keep better track of unfinished projects, especially when they range from 10% done to 90% done?
Another way that has truly helped me stay on top of my knitting projects is journaling them. I know—one more thing to keep track of—but this one has actually stuck. We have a few different journaling options available, and last year I started using the Twice Sheared Sheep Knitting Journal, and I absolutely love it.
I record all the important details: the pattern, yarn, needles, notes along the way, and I even add pictures as I progress and of the final project. There’s something very satisfying about seeing a project move from an idea to a finished piece all in one place. I started this habit last year, and so far, I’m staying on task—which says a lot for me.
I honestly believe I’ve completed more projects because of it. Somehow, writing it down makes me feel just accountable enough… and my journal doesn’t let me forget quite as easily.
There are tools that can help. Cocoknits has some wonderful project-organization tools that gently support us—without making us feel like we’re doing it “wrong.”
Because maybe the question isn’t to organize or not…
Maybe it’s simply about organizing with kindness—leaving room for creativity, grace, and the joy that matters far more than doing anything perfectly.
P.S. Having a really nice pen also makes keeping track in your journal much more fun. Just saying. 😉
