So many delicious project, so little time

I knit and crochet a lot.

Okay. Almost all of the time.

Obviously.

It's literally my job and not a hobby.

But even I find that there just isn't enough time in the day to make all the things I want to make.

Does that happen to you, too? Do you see so many delicious patterns and projects and get start-itis and just want to make ALL THE THINGS?

I don't know about you, but I often underestimate just how long it will take me to finish a given project, which generally means that I have about twenty projects waiting to be worked on or started. Occasionally, the week will be serendipitous, and I'll make good progress on whatever projects I have in my bag. Other weeks are not quite as productive, and I'll slog my way through a project I had hoped to have finished well beforehand. But that doesn't diminish the urge to start with something new.

Now, I'm not one of those monogamous project crafters. I find only working on one project at a time to be tedious and boring. Instead, I need a larger creative canvas, more space to flex my artistic tendencies. It's the same feeling I had about needing an outlet for my intellect before I started working at BEST, the same feeling I have when people think I should only read one book at a time (first, it's none of their business. Second, I wasn't trained that way; in my former profession you had to juggle reading a dozen or so books all at the same time). I need room, and the crafting side of my brain is just as expansive as the intellectual side.

The major impediment to making all of the things, though, is time.

Sure, it would be nice to finish that cardigan at 3am, but I'm usually stumbling back into bed after Nicky decided to walk on my head, scream in my ear, and demand I attend to his hungry feline self around then, and people, I need sleep. I don't function well without sleep.

Or, I could get in an extra three rows if only I didn't have morning coffee and some toast, but, again, I don't function so well without breakfast.

And, when I can spend some uninterrupted hours knitting, crocheting, quilting, or spinning, my 45-year-old body doesn't always think that's a great idea because tennis elbow and a stiff neck and back set in unless I get up, move around, and take a break, not to mention my myopic eyes get mighty tired after awhile. Then, there's the obligatory responding to texts and emails, making actual conversation with my father, going to the bathroom, doing those household chores, deciding to play a game (or five) of Cube Block puzzle...

Time is a nasty, nasty creature.

Does that stop me from drooling over some fabulous patterns on Instagram? Or prevent me from daydreaming about the lovely texture of that roving I've been saving? Of course not. I'm pretty sure my Ravelry library qualifies as an actual library and could easily fit within the Library of Congress classification system and not just the cutesy term they use for file storage.

I mean, seriously! That Superstitious pullover by Michael Shawn has been calling my name since he published that pattern. And I have the yarn all picked out and set aside for Adina Higdon's Pumpkin Spice Latte Socks. Bunnymuff's Charm of the Woodland Hat would be super cute in that Blossoms cake I bought a year ago. I've been dying to finish spinning some Wonderland speckled merino sparkle from LYS Day 2021. And I'm still plugging away on several Wonderland Kit samples that I need to finish while eyeing the sleeves on the Inverness pullover that are in process...

In case you're wondering, yes. I'm totally censoring my list because otherwise this would end up being a sixty-minute read.

What's a crafter to do when there are just so many projects out there but so little time to finish?