Get a Grip: 2023 is for Finishing (Not Just February)

Last December, as 2022 closed out and the fresh promise of 2023 lay ahead, I sat down and had a good hard think about my crafting, my WIP situation, what’s been bringing me joy, and what’s been weighing me down.

Good crafting habits that I fought hard to establish over the years have fallen by the wayside, and I seem to have reverted to some older patterns that aren’t great for my overall happiness or crafty-well-being.  (There’s perhaps a larger story to be told here about other aspects of my life, health, habits, and happiness, but that’s an introspection for another day.)

I was starting things that I didn’t really work on and never put into Ravelry, so they were in this weird “is it really a project or not?” limbo.  I was letting WIPs linger long enough that they were beginning to slide into true UFO territory.  I stopped entering yarn into Ravelry as soon as I bought it.  (Don’t get it twisted…I did not stop buying yarn, I just quit adding it to my notebook.) 

My mojo has been intermittent, and I’m feeling weighed down instead of buoyed up by my crafting life.

In short, I need to get a grip.

So here’s what we’re going to do about it.  I’m declaring 2023 The Year of the WIP.  This is a personal challenge, but feel free to play along in whatever manner feels helpful or meaningful to you. 

Here are my rules of engagement:

1. I will finish, frog, or fling everything that was on needles or hooks as of Dec 31, 2022, by December 31, 2023. The only projects coming into 2024 with me will be less than 12 months old.
2. I’ll post a full accounting of what’s in bounds.  This will also serve as my annual “February is for Finishing” post, wherein we all acknowledge that that scrappy granny blanket still hasn’t been touched since 2019.  See above in re: getting a grip.
3. I can cast new things on as I please, this is not strictly speaking a “Project Zero” style challenge.  This is a “clear out what’s weighing me down to make space for the new” kind of situation.
4. I’ll keep both my projects and my stash updated in Ravelry.  I’ve nearly caught my yarn up already, and just need to add my advents and a few other bits and bobs from December.
5. I’m going to be very thoughtful and intentional about any new yarn purchases.  We have yarn at home.

I made a down payment on The Year of the WIP on New Year's Day when I finished up a washcloth I found stuffed in the blue bin in my living room.  This is the bin I shove things in when I am "cleaning" up my crafting before people come over.  

I have no idea when I started it, I know it was sometime last year, but I have no memory of this place.

And as a side note, in case you are curious about the PPN (personal, private number) of WIPs that drove me over the edge… it was 13.  Past me would think that’s hilarious.