If you’re finding yourself with more crochet WIPs (works in progress) than you can handle, I want you to know that you’re not alone! As I sit here writing this I can admit to at least nine WIPs in just this one room. If I venture out to my lounge area I can show you another seven that I can remember being there, so there are bound to be even more than that are out of my mind.

Now for me, having that many isn’t unusual and isn’t overwhelming. Many that I have are related to projects that I am creating for the Hooked on Crochet Club, YouTube or this blog. Others are ones that I have started as a gift for someone and some are because the yarn spoke to me and I had to start. I regularly design in batches, which means that I will sit and start a bunch of them and take photos that I need. I then work my way making them so that I can then write up the patterns. Others I start because the mood struck me.

They don’t overwhelm me because I have a plan for them all. My oldest ones I started in 2020! I don’t think that I currently have any that are older than that. I will admit to having quite a few that I have not touched in a long while (months) too.

So how do we get here? And how can we make it so that they’re not so overwhelming and at a number that feels manageable to you?

We quite often get to this point because it is really really easy to fall in love with a pattern that we’ve seen and just have to start. I’ve been there. A lot. But what happens when start without really thinking it through, is that we can end up with a project that we don’t enjoy making or is just more difficult than we thought it would be. We gradually get bored or start to avoid it and start looking for something new. We then continue in this cycle until we start to feel overwhelmed and then guilty from all the projects that have piled up and aren’t getting finished. So we start to hide them. Or promise that we’ll get back to once we finish this new one.

It’s way to easy to have them pile up. And then life starts to get in the way too and all of our promises to ourselves go out the window. Our loved ones start to question us and we feel judged, and that sends us into another spiral.

So how do we get out of it?

First we need to acknowledge all of the projects. And we need to come up with a plan. And we can’t be afraid to frog the ones that we know we will never get back to and finish. I have two right now that I know that I will end up frogging. Both I am not loving as much as I thought I would and I would much rather turn the yarn into something that I will enjoy more.

So begin by making a list. Include all of the ones that you have hiding away where you can’t see them.

You then need to categorise them – do you love to make it or are you not enjoying making it? Are you making it for a reason? Does it have a deadline?

Once you have them all categorised you can prioritise them. Ones with a deadline need to be the top priority. You can break them out by ones you love and ones you don’t. If they have a deadline and you love making it then you know you can spend more time working on it. If it has a deadline but you’re not happy making it, then make less time for it more often so that it still gets done but you don’t get annoyed in the process. If you don’t enjoy it and it has no deadline, then frog it. No need to justify. Frog it and find something better to do with the yarn! The ones that you enjoy but have no deadline you can just work on in between the ones with a deadline.

Stick with that process to help yourself work through them. And then get some discipline around the future projects that you start. Limit how many you have and try to make sure that you love them! If you haven’t worked out what types of projects that you do and don’t love then spend some time experimenting to figure it out – play with yarn, stitches, techniques and learn what you do and don’t like.

I have plenty of resources to help you with all of this. Check out the list below to determine what you need for now. Save this blog so that you can come back to is as your needs will continue to change.

Resources:

• Crochet Project Planner: A printable project planner designed to help you simply and effectively categorise and plan out your projects.
• JOYCAL 2025: Designed to help you learn what projects you don’t and don’t love so that you make more of what you love.
• Hooked on Crochet Club: Monthly membership to help you discover more of what you do and don’t love with crochet and expland on your skill set. Plus access to me (a crochet mentor) and a community of crocheters that will help you be accountable and celebrate your achievements.

Seona x