Planning for 2013...and beyond!

So I have a plan...after discovering that my unfinished knitting project list hovered someplace above the 40 mark, no matter how many I finish, I surely need one! I ruthlessly made some rules after Christmas: no new knitting until all are finished with the exception of baby items for Baby Jupiter. Further, each item has a month or part of a month from now until the sometime in 2014 when all will be done. 

Isn't this a lovely last image of Christmas?  The next day we had warm temperatures that melted  snow and the magic disappeared.

 Already, the second rule has been compromised. But here at the end of January, I have finished 4 pairs of mittens, 3 hats, a scarf and a tea cozy. All were WIPs except for the scarf! That's a dent! And still 2 days remain in the month!

Lame acrylic mittens knit for no reason, but it counts as completion!

 Now to do that, I shifted items around and made a discovery. A kal can be a help in completing items. I really wanted to post mittens on the Naknimitmo group on Ravelry! I also wanted to give Elizabeth her pair of mittens and they look so nice with her jacket.

Elizabeth's Holly Jean mittens - love Cascade 220!

In planning my list of diminishing WIPs, I made another discovery. Projects begun more recently seem to get finished. It's the older discontinued items that languish. I suspect the reasons for this are as numerous as the projects themselves, but I tried to take that into consideration as I listed and mixed the older with the more recent. I also tried to take into account the amount of finishing needed. And I have decided that serious rearranging is totally acceptable as long as work is completed.   So in spite of rearrangements made and more expected in the future, here is the original list.

 2013
January: White alpaca sweater and Nemesis socks from Tunis fiber
February: Handspun corriedale Paperboy cardi and pink crocheted bag
March: Pink stripe pullover and thrum socks
April: Red zigzag blanket and black lace scarf for 'Cole
May: Brick colored cutaway cardigan and lt blue fingerless gloves
June: Purple/orange wild handspun shawl and gray alpaca blend vest w/ bobbles
July: Mittens: Nema, purple acrylic, and thrum
August: Orange Cakewalk socks and Tom's blueberry vest
September:  3 sisters cardi in purple and felted nest
October:  Red wool cardi - Sitcom Chic - and stripey socks w/ picot edge
November: Red ruana and Alison's scarf
December: Red pi shawl and Mission Falls flower bag

Hena Mittens knit from Mission Falls 1824 Wool.  So fun to knit and embellish!

2014
January:  Burgundy mohair cardi and Shetland circle shawl
February: Orange, pink, brown vest and wild handspun bag
March: Orange handspun pocket scarf and Annie Modesitt bag
April:  Charlotte's Web
May:  Philosopher's Wool cardi
June:  Red Swirl sweater - Annie Modesitt
July: Periwinkle Peace Fleece cabled hoodie
August: Minni cardi
September: KnitPicks colorwork cardi and Mosaic socks - red and brown

Thrum mittens.  Gauge changes over time!  And now Tom wants a pair - he's entranced with these, but I think they'd be too small for him.

It's powerful and overwhelming to see it all in print in one place.  It looks manageable until you think about the life that flows around it and the time required to accomplish the many tasks that make up my life.  What I didn't include above as I bragged a little about how many things I already finished is that many of them were done when I had the flu, home from work for a few days and ignoring dirty dishes and laundry that needed folding.  I'll continue to be the hopeful optimist as I gaze at the list.  But realistically it will take near aggression to wrest time away from other things to meet this goal of no WIPs by September 2014!