Too many WIPs? How to finally finish them
Every maker has a basket. Half a blanket, one sock, a cardigan with no sleeves. Here is how to sort it, and how to get the good ones over the line.
WIP: work in progress. Or, if we're honest, work in a basket.
Crocheters and knitters even have a name for why the basket fills up: startitis. A new yarn arrives, a new pattern appears, and casting on is the most exciting moment of any project. Finishing is slower: weaving in ends, seaming, a border that takes a whole weekend.
A few WIPs are normal and fine. But when the basket makes you feel guilty instead of happy, it's time for a sort-out.
Why WIPs pile up
- Starting is fun, the middle is long. The first rows fly, row 200 doesn't.
- A mistake you don't want to face. A dropped stitch three rows back, a sleeve that came out too long. It's easier to start something new than to rip back.
- Lost notes. Which pattern? Which hook? Where was I? The longer it waits, the harder it is to pick up.
- Nobody knows it exists. A project nobody is waiting for can wait forever.
The WIP sort-out
- Get them all outEvery bag, basket and drawer. Lay them side by side. It's usually fewer than you feared, or more than you remembered.
- Decide for each one: finish, frog or pass onStill love it? It goes on the finish pile. Not anymore? Frog it (rip it out) and the yarn gets a new life. Not your thing but nearly done? Someone else might finish it, or love it as it is.
- Write down where each one isPattern, hook, row, what's next. Five minutes now saves the "where was I" fog later. (Here's what to note for a long project.)
- Pick one to finish firstThe one closest to done. A quick win puts finishing back into your hands and makes the next one easier.
Frogging isn't failing. It's yarn getting a second chance.
Habits that keep the basket small
- One big, one small. One long project at home, one small portable one (socks, a hat, granny squares) for the bus. Two is a rhythm. Seven is a basket.
- One in, one out. Before casting on something new, finish or frog something old.
- A tiny weekly goal. Not "finish the blanket", but "join one row of squares". Small enough to actually do on a Tuesday evening.
- Share on WIP Wednesday. Makers have shared works in progress on Wednesdays for years. One photo a week keeps every project moving, and you'll find people working on the same pattern.
Finish together: a make-along
Everything is easier with company. Ask a friend (or two) to work on the same pattern, or to finish one WIP each, at the same time. Agree on a weekly check-in and post your progress. When someone else is on the same row, putting it away stops being an option.
Every WIP gets its own Journey
On NovaPod each project is a Journey and every step is a Chapter. Your WIPs sit on your profile side by side, each with its Chapters, so you can see at a glance which one has been quiet too long.
Follow your make-along friends and their new Chapters show up in your Feed. And with the Crochet theme, your profile turns into a crocheted cottage garden, with a little yarn monster, granny-square stats and stitched cards.
Start with one
You don't have to finish the basket. Pick one WIP, write down where it is and post a photo of it today. Then do one small thing for it this week. That's how baskets empty: one finished thing at a time. (More on why projects stall: why you never finish your creative projects.)
