Craft Neglect

The thing about writing a craft blog is you can really get away with a lot of unfinished business. First, you can present yourself as all types of impressive for finishing projects left and right. Second, most people don’t mind progress shots. What you all don’t know is the stash of half finished projects hidden around my house: behind the couch, tucked in a basket, sitting in plain sight on my craft table.

A few years ago I took part in a Church of Craft exhibit on unfinished projects. We all hung a couple never-ending projects on the wall and then wrote a little bit about why we hadn’t finished them. Well I must confess, those two projects are still hidden away.

This morning I was reading one of my favorite craft bloggers, the Blather Magather, she like many crafters has a couple of larger projects languishing. She suggested that the Department of Neglected Crafts (DNC) was going to come beat down her door. I confess this sent a shiver down my spine when I thought of all those projects I have been neglecting for newer shinier ideas.

So in the spirit of full disclosure I thought I might share my top 10 abandon projects. Maybe if I talk about them I will remember how much fun they were and maybe the DNC will go easier on me…

Here it is my top 10 recently forgotten craft projects (mind you there are more, some so forgotten I can’t remember them):

1. The Beast. Whom you have all meet. And with all those ends to sew in I say chances are slim for a fast finish.
2. Brown Sweater. This is one of the sweaters from loop-d-loop. The sad part is it is really almost done. A mere few inches left till done, but I can’t remember what needles I used and then removed for another project so I need to rip out half the sweater and start again.
3. Hyperbolic Baby Pants. See now the problem with this project was that it was really about the challenge of the knitting concept. I needed to see if the pattern making an odd tube could be turned into baby pants. Once I knit them and discovered with a little tweaking they could become baby pants I lost interest.
4. Top Secret Sewing Project #1. This is a present for a faithful reader so lets just say this: there is some carefully picked out fabric, there was some cutting even some sewing but since an initial burst of energy there is sits, and it kinda has a deadline.
5. Fused Bags. If I really showed you all the plastic bags I have around here categorized by color and weight you would ship me off to plastic bags anonymous.
6. Green Mittens. I knit them over a day and a half. All that’s left is one thumb and some end sewing. I made them over a month ago and they have not moved from their last resting place since. And hey its spring right?
7. Green Modular Crochet Sweater. This is a newer project. I started it this winter after chipping in with friends to buy this great Modular Crochet book. All the work on this sweater was done in about a week. I stopped because my wrists hurt and now it sits on top of my bookcase.
8. Placemats. I made one, started a second but alas the second sits on top of my craft corner.
9. Fingerless Gloves. I started these for a friend who lived in a really cold trailer. She no longer lives in a cold trailer-sigh.
10. I-pod Case. This might be my worst offense yet. This is a project for my guy, my very patient, not frustrated that his apartment has been taken over with plastic bags guy. I ran out of the right kind of bag and despite him buying more yummy things that come in those bags I have not finished, or even really thought about it.

Okay, I admit I feel a bit dirty with this admission of craft neglect. Perhaps the worst part of my craft neglect is all those confessed to today have been ignored in the last year. In other words this is a mere sampling of years of craft neglect. So here’s the deal, I promise to finish at least one project on the list before starting the next. And you all have to periodically remind me that there are many lovely projects already started for me to work on.