Abandoned Projects Project*

 Does every creative person have a pile of projects that were started but never finished tucked away in some unseen corner (or many corners)? Maybe it’s just a sign of a mind that’s always churning with ideas or with enthusiasm for the next new thing. Or maybe it’s undiagnosed ADHD, I don’t know. All I know for sure is that I recently decided I wanted to tackle the monumental task of cleaning and organizing my art and craft supplies and in doing so I came across several projects of that sort of my own. 

There’s a simultaneous feeling of both excited discovery and disappointment in myself whenever this happens. It’s one part “oh wow, I forgot about this one, can’t wait to get back to it!” and one part “damn, it’s been 3 years, Stephanie, where is your ability to see things through?” I think, overall, it’s better for my mental health to entertain the former sentiment and let go of the latter.

Regardless, I made a decision that I was going to make good on all my former starts and give them finishes. As an added bonus, doing so would give me content for both this blog and my Instagram account, which is something I’m giving in to lately and trying to view as just another creative endeavor.

I started by making a list of everything begun but not yet finished. I needed to decide whether I was going to include everything or if I would fully abandon some things that I knew didn’t really interest me anymore. I also needed to decide what constitutes “abandoned.” Does it have to have been actually started to be counted as abandoned? Or could the project have only lived in my head as an intention? What about things that aren’t really project projects, but would probably be more accurately regarded as tasks? Frankly, the answer to all of those questions was, “Include it all.” The more the merrier. 

So, what have I done so far? I stitched up a little hole that was in the side of my dog’s candy corn chew toy. That thing had been sitting on my shelf for a couple of years, I think, waiting for me to get around to it. And now, when seen next to the other two candy corn chew toys that came in the same package, one of them is noticeably cleaner and fluffier, from lack of dog mouth. So, that’s nice.

I also finished crocheting a scarf that I had started years ago and could barely remember beginning. Now, do I have a need for a scarf, living as I do, in the desert? Do I have a need for a scarf that is stitched completely in half double crochet, using chunky yarn that gives the scarf little to no drape, in unmatching color blocks that have no rhyme or reason to them? No, I do not. Will I most likely donate that scarf in the near future, all the while kidding myself that anyone would actually want it? Yes. But, I finished it, didn’t I?

In addition to those projects, I finished knitting a dishcloth (which will actually be used and I like it), made a tiny embroidered cherries bottlecap magnet (lives on the fridge where I can frequently admire it), and I finally finished mending a pair of fingerless gloves that I first knitted for my oldest 13 years ago (did a terrible job, but those will be sent off to Colorado to their original owner very soon).

Oh, and I keep forgetting this one, and I don't know why, but I also cut up an old tablecloth (that was originally a hand-me-down and went through an iteration as a curtain) and turned it into some cloth napkins. This one had me pulling out my sewing machine, which I hadn't touched since 2020, so that was nice.

All in all, this abandoned projects project has been really great for me. It feels like one small area of my life that I can grab the reins on and have some control over. It feels like a clearing out of both physical and mental clutter and that feels really good. 

Anyway, 6 projects down and however many to go!

*we are ignoring the fact that I haven't posted a blog post since January