Are your WIPs haunting you? You're not alone!
I've been seeing all sorts of posts from various creatives out there where they list their WIPs. Kind of a cross between confessions and accountability posts. Part of this is the natural "New Year New You" phenomenon we see in January, but I feel like there is more urgency this year for some reason.
Let's be honest, the world kind of feels like it's on fire, right? Does the impending apocalypse make us look inward at all the things we've left unfinished?
Or maybe our decades of over consumerism have finally caught up with us and we are facing the realities of dealing with all the 'stuff' in our lives.
Whatever the reason, let's do something about it!
At the end of 2025 I wrote this post and shared a printable WIP Tracker with you. Some of you downloaded it and even filled it out - seriously this causes me such joy! I also filled it out and this month I have taken great pride in checking off several of my WIPs. (Who else gets a weirdly big dopamine hit from crossing off items from a list??)
But in my post and video I'd left off a couple of WIPs as well as my stash of yarn. I promised a post about how to deal with yarn stash and while this isn't it, it's coming. Pinky promise!
So here is the whole truth of my WIP situation. My WIP Confession if you will.
Where do I go from here? And how do you take my experience and learn from it? I'm not pretending I have all the answers - or even any answers to be honest! I have thoughts and experience from a different creative past time that I think we can put to good use to help us check off WIPs in February.
My first creative passion was scrapbooking. It was my field of expertise when I opened Ladner Village Arts & Crafts back in 2021 and has stayed as a passion ever since. Last year I embarked on a massive organization project which was so eye opening. I purged boxes of stash items that were no longer bringing me joy (very Marie Kondo). I moved pretty much every item around in my space so that it made sense to my creative process. You know, placing frequently used items close to hand and organizing other items into the way my brain looked for them while making a layout or card. Then I finally started to tackle the stories I'd already told so I could get a better handle on what stories still needed to be told.
This is where the wheels fell off the bus.
In fact, it's possible the bus exploded ...
I got so overwhelmed and completely, hopelessly stalled that I have made the decision to pause all scrapbooking in 2026. It's simply not bringing me joy. I feel like the layouts I make are being made simply because it's expected that I make layouts (full disclosure; I help a friend run an online scrapbooking community so there is a fair amount of 'expected productivity'.) I want to return to it with renewed enthusiasm and passion but to do that I need to finish the work I started on my story organization. And I'll be honest, my crochet business isn't allowing me the time or mental bandwidth at the moment for that to happen.
To take a phrase from my WIP tracker, I've placed scrapbooking in 'time out'. It gets to stand by and wait for me to be ready to pick it up again. And that's okay.
How do we take this experience and relate it our yarn WIPs?
If you've been following along with me this year, then you've likely already gathered your unfinished projects in some way. Whether you've written them into the tracker I provided or a notebook of your own. Or you've mentally noted them down (not my preferred method because I WILL forget anything not written down in black and white!) Or maybe you're a 'piler' and you've literally piled all your WIPs into one spot so you can see them and grab them easily. Whatever way works for you, you've likely got a good idea of what needs to be accomplished.
Now is the time to do something about it!
I challenge you to join me in Finish it February.
Search up #finishitfebruary and you'll see so many posts from like minded individuals who are looking for accountability to 'git 'er done already'. Including me!
What's my plan?
I've created a graphic that you can fill in with your own projects. There are two ways to do this: open up the shared template in Canva, fill in your projects and then save it as a graphic to cross off and share to social media. Or print off the blank sheet, hand write your WIPs into each box and cross them off as you go.
Here's mine.
I will also post this to Instagram (and Facebook) and will share regular updates all month. Any bets on how many projects I'll finish? I'm terrible for having 6 WIPs and then coming across another pattern or idea that I simply have to try out. LOL. Can I control my impulses this month?
As I said in the video, I've got 3 main categories for my WIPs: Knitting (only one on here - Toe Up Socks), Personal (5.5 on here - if I can actually design a tank top, I may decide to publish the pattern and/or turn it into a class), and Professional (all the samples to be made for classes and kits, and patterns to be written up).
Will I get everything on this list done?
No way! I've also got these pesky demands on me like feeding my family, running a business, taking care of chores around the house, and trying to find time to have some fun! Oh, and sleep. I should probably do a bit of that too. LOL!
How will I keep from feeling overwhelmed by this list? Because let's face it, it's daunting!
I'm sure I will have days of feeling overwhelmed, but for me, writing out what needs to be done actually helps me. It clarifies what tasks I need to pick up if I find myself doom scrolling. It gives me a solid path forward through the chaos that is my craft room and life in general.
For me, it calms me to list things out.
Now that I have a concrete idea of where I'm starting, I can head back into my craft room to tidy away certain projects, move others to a more prominent location, and triage the rest. If you're looking for ideas for how to do that, please refer to the post I wrote at the end of 2025. It will go hand in hand with this one.
If you are joining me for Finish It February then good luck! Let's cheer each other on and keep each other accountable.
Until next time, happy stitching!
