When I looked at my craft to-do list, over the last six weeks, I still wanted to do everything on it, even though none of the projects jumped out and said ‘pick me!’. I was also stuck in a ‘but I shouldn’t start this until I’ve finished that’ rut, which had me picking up one thing, doing a bit, then putting it down and picking up another, and so on.

I tried listing my works in progress and committing to finishing them. A few weekends ago I decided I would work on the Paua Shell Ruanna every day, for as long as a cd played. I kept it up for a few days and made good progress but then I had a day when work took over completely and I haven’t touched it since.

The right side is done, now for the left

Last Sunday I had a free day to dedicate to craft. Instead of tackling a WIP I spent it trying to make gifts for the coming overseas trip. Last year I knitted little sock bookmarks, but since lots of fiddly hand knitting is out of the question now I figured I’d whip up a long tube on the knitting machine, cut it into short lengths and make beanie bookmarks. Except that, well, they looked like little woolly condoms.

As always, I’ve had more success with projects I could do in front of the tv at night. I finished the cat portraits and another inkle band, and next I’m going to tackle this sampler I started for the loom demonstration at the convention last June:

True to my words

After that I figure I’ll take the Art Necklace, paper and a gouache set down there, and paint the inserts.

Just needs filling

But I can’t do everything on my craft to-do list while sitting in front of the TV. Some projects are too messy, some are noisy and some require space and large tools. A few days ago I decided to do something different: divide them into TV Craft, Workroom Craft and Outside Craft instead of by type of craft.

After all, the definition of insanity is doing the same thing while expecting a different result, or so the saying goes.

I found a couple more WIPs that could be done in the evening, and that most of the workroom and outside craft requires a weekend – either a half day, full day or multiple days.

Then I divided them based on craft type, and the sewing projects into garment, non-garment and projects that require an overlocker rather than whether they were refashions or not. I wound up with six ‘days’:

Dyeing Day
Tshirt Printing Day
Jewellery Day
Overlocking Day
Accessory Making Day/s
Shirt Conversion Day/s

The unexpected bonus of this was that I can add some new projects to a day if I have time. Like trying solar dyeing to Tshirt Printing Day, or trying silver clay once I’ve finished my jewellery WIPs.

I figure I can find six weekend days between now and the next trip to dedicate to reducing the to-do list. It’s unlikely I’ll come back to a clean slate, but hopefully to a much diminished list.