String Theory and the Benefit of Stash

This past week I spent in a fog about my knitting. I had finished all the projects that were on my list and came to a standstill. I know that seems impossible but I was stymied for what to start next. I ran through all the ideas and with the holidays coming on you would have thought the date on the calendar would be enough pressure all on its own.

The deadline pressure finally won out and I gathered up the stuff to begin the special gift for my sister in law that has to be mailed to Germany in 3 1/2 weeks. Nothing like a deadline to get me moving.

With this going on I discovered that I do have a method to my madness that correlates into what I am calling my String Theory. It goes something like this. If I have the materials readily available I will always have a knitting project in the wings. It does take some organization on my part. I keep a binder with the patterns that I am most interested in knitting in the very near future, and plenty of other patterns to look through if necessary. When I buy yarn it is for a particular pattern, so when I get it home I package it in a ziplock bag with a copy of the pattern and any notes about tools that I will need, and a notepaper with the name of the project so I can quickly shuffle through the bags and know what is waiting for me to cast on. These bags go in a plastic tub that sits in a readily accessible place.

I find there are benefits to this method when the holidays are approaching rapidly. Last year I was further ahead with my gifts because of Ravelympics, however this year I have created a lot of samples for the shop where I teach. So I have been knitting just not for gift giving.

I will admit that there are some WIP's that got set aside because other things took precedence. Some of them are samples for future classes and others are things that I wanted to make for myself and have not gotten back to.

The benefit is that I always have something to work on. I do not have to run out to find a pattern and the materials to knit something. That is like having more money in the bank. I hope everyone has plenty of stash to keep them energized about the things that they love. :-)