For several years I've taken part in Finish It February, an initiative hosted by Roxanne Richardson, a knitter based in the States. Although it was designed for knitters, a similar process could be used for any making or crafting activity.
The idea is that you pull together in one place every started-but-not-completed object. Knitters often have many - Roxanne discovered that she had something like forty-five unfinished items the first time she did it. I think I had about twenty-two the first year, ranging from when I started knitting again about twenty years ago to things from a few years ago.
Things get tucked away: maybe you started something new or there was a rush to finish something else for Christmas or a birthday, or you got stuck or bored, or you put it down and forgot about it. There are any number of reasons why unfinished items might gradually accumulate over time.
I remember my mum had an old oak chest that stood in her bedroom. Every so often we would go through it and among the lovely bedlinen and precious lace, there would be half-finished sweaters and dressmaking projects. We'd have a good look at them and then they went back in the chest and the lid came down and that was that.
What I liked about the process that Roxanne set out was accepting all the complexities of who we are and that we may have changed and moved on, developed as a knitter or maker, since we started some of these objects.
So there was no shade or shame about deciding to abandon some of these items - because for one reason or another, they no longer served you - or to put aside some items until next year - perhaps there were difficult or unhappy feelings associated with the item - when they could be reviewed again and maybe things would have changed.
How to do it
Once you've got your items together, you sort them into three piles:
- Nays
For whatever reason, you don't want to spend more time on these. You don't like them, you can't remember what it was, you've lost bits of the pattern, you don't like the yarn, you've moved on and you're no longer interested. - Yays
The very opposite, you still like these, you'd still like to finish them. - The Pile of Ambiguities
Strangely, my favourite pile! This is for anything where you are unable to make a decision and you're not sure what you want to do about them. Once you've been through everything, these are packed away again until next year when you'll review them again.
My Pile of Ambiguities had gradually decreased each year until now there is one item sitting in it: a beautifully soft alpaca vest. I wasn't quite sure about the finish on the neck and armholes, but I've decided to start wearing it and see what happens.
The End of the Nays
Some charity shops accept yarn and half-finished projects. (I know Arne of Arne and Carlos loves picking up a half finished cross-stitched cushion cover of kittens with its embroidery silks, so I'm sure there are other people like that in the world).
Or you can find textile reclamation bins at recycling centres; or maybe there is a local knitting group that would welcome donations, or you could re-home unwanted items through freecycle or freegle. Natural fibres are biodegradable and can go in the compost, and all of them can be used as stuffing for other projects.
At the end of the day, they can go in the bin.
Dealing with the Yays
The second stage is selecting potential projects that you could and would like to complete in February. It may not be possible to do everything, some things may need to go back in the box until later in the year or until next year's review.
The knack is to select things that would be fun to do and provide some quick wins. If you have a bigger project you'd like to complete, then may be add two or three smaller ones that you can rotate with the large project and keep things fresh and motivating.
Fix It February
As the pile of unfinished objects gradually decreases over the years, another use for February might be to repair or alter finished garments. This could include changing buttons, patching elbows, darning socks, re-knitting a neckline or cuffs or lengthing or shortening a garment. Again, select some items that could be accomplished in February.
Final Thoughts
I really enjoy doing this each year. The respective piles have all diminished over the three or four years I've been doing it. I like the idea that not everything has to be sorted and finished now and it's okay to put things away for a decision another time.
I'm planning Finish It February slightly differently this year. I'm using the same process to go through my stash. So far, I have extracted the Nays. These are sorted, bagged and labelled and ready to go a charity Scrapstore which recycles craft and making materials and equipment.
I have sorted everything else into three piles:
- current works in progress. From my stash, I've put together the yarn for the Mystery Blanket Knit Along that I've started. I have a couple of small items and a sweater to finish later in the year.
- yays, yarn that I'm keeping in stash.
- pile of ambiguities - a large pile (I think nine nine-litre boxes) that I want to go through during February and make decisions about. Each one needs a more leisurely consideration.
So far, I have gone from forty nine-litre boxes to thirty-one and I have current projects in five boxes (Amare jacket, the Mystery Blanket above, a scarf and a pair of socks).
I've reduced my stash by about a third!
Charity Scrapstores
East Kent Mencap Scrapstore
Finish It February 2022 - includes links with timestamps to Roxanne's videos.
Finish It February 2023 - includes results from 2022.
I always enjoy watching Roxanne's collage of everyone's finished items at the end of February, with their little captions: "this little bear was started in 1934 for Anneliese's eldest son ...".
