It's important to have goals.

I am a girl on a mission. Well, several missions at once actually.

For starters, there's the stash. Once I got everything out in the open and organized, I suddenly realized that I am blessed with an overabundance of fiber, so with a few super-special exceptions, I'm not picking up any new yarn. I haven't settled on a time frame or goal, but like my Wardrobe Refashion no-new-clothing challenge, it's the kind of goal that ultimately rewards itself.


Then there's what I am affectionately referring to as the Knitout at the U.F.O Corral. Like most of the knitters I know, I have things that have been sitting for a very long time. Some of them, upon closer inspection, are better off just being ripped out, but quite a few are still things worth finishing. I started with the Rambling Rose Cardigan, and though I keep having to take detours and breaks (like the Framed Jewelry Holder from Stitch Diva I made recently), am inching ever closer to finishing it. I finally knit the second sock of a pair that I started a year and a half ago. The basket of things that have been sitting and languishing is getting smaller and smaller each time I look at it.



All of this overhauling and organizing has also made me realize one other thing. I know it is blasphemy to say this, but:

I have too many knitting books.

Actually, let me rephrase that-- I have too many unused knitting books. I originally bought them because there was a pattern or two that I really liked, but got distracted and moved onto something else before I could ever knit anything from it. So part 3 of "Jilly's Epic Knitting Mission" involves using all of my books. Thusly, the Ravelry queue is topped with projects from books I already own.

To sum up, the mission statement is this:

I will not buy any new yarn until such time as I have decided that stash is depleted back to normal levels. I will put my entire stash on Ravelry to keep myself honest. Acceptable yarn purchases are limited to extra yarn to finish a project and small batch/specialty producer yarn.

I will finish every current UFO. Finishing can also include ripping out an item that no longer works. I am allowed to start another project during this process, but only one new WIP will be allowed at any given time.

I will not buy another knitting book until I use every book I already own. Use = completing atleast one project from each title. Stitch dictionaries require a project using atleast one stitch pattern. The only exemptions are spinning books.

And there we have it. I guess I just planned out my knitting list for the next two years!