Why does the word inventory contain the word invent? According to my Oxford, both words have the same root — the Middle English word meaning to discover. But we use them in such different ways.

Or do we? Obviously we discover new things as we create. What can we discover about our inventories?

Over there to the right is the sidebar of shame my list of unfinished projects. I do finish these every now and then. Note that the re-knit moebius is complete! And it’s the right length! And there was much rejoicing! (pictures soon) But also sometimes those projects tend to hang around forever for longer than I’d care to discuss.

Last Saturday at Tangle, Alice, K, Nurse Knitter and I discussed our projects: Projects present, projects future, projects of our dreams, projects forgotten, projects hanging around like sulky children whining for attention. Projects.

Since the others do not possess a sidebar of shame public place to flaunt their embarrassment handy place like a blog to keep track of their projects, someone more clever than myself suggested that perhaps having an inventory page that could be kept in a binder or file would be helpful in remembering just what projects may be buried in forgotten corners of unused closets temporarily on hold. We came up with a few useful categories that projects could be slotted into, and a few guidelines, and the intrepid Alice created a lovely little inventory form.

There was one knitter there who (I know this is hard to comprehend) only buys enough yarn for her current project, and never has more than one project going at a time. I had never really believed that such a mythical creatures existed, but there she was! I don’t think she quite knew what to think of my remark that on the needles was the best place to keep track of my stash.

These are the categories we came up with:

• On The Needles:
  • Active - projects that I am working on this week
  • On Hold - there are reasons I am not working on this, I just may not know what they are. (Items go from Active to On Hold when you let go of the guilt.)
• Future Projects:
  • Material Acquired – I have the yarn, pattern and may have even have done a gauge swatch
  • Plans – ideas I am thinking of, patterns I have acquired, I feel the need to add these to my life sometime in the future.
• Items to be Finished — off the needles, but not completed

If you would like a copy of the Knitter’s Inventory, you can download one from Tangle’s site (click on the link), or from my site by clicking here. You, too, can be amazed when you discover your inventory have a handy way to keep track. I’ve updated the sidebar of shame my list to fit these categories.

With wonderful timing, Ann & Kay from Mason-Dixon Knitting have started a new… slogalong. It celebrates those projects that just go on and on and on and on until you wanna stick one knitting needle through your right ear and the other one through your left eye because you know no matter how far in the future it will be (and hopefully it will be a long time) you will be buried with the #$(@% thing. If you have projects like that, head over to the slogalong site and sign up. We can all slog together.

Because I don’t have enough unfinished projects competing for my time, I’ve signed up for Sockapalooza 4. What the heck. Chances are good, after all, that some time between now and August 2 (the deadline), I’ll knit a pair of socks. And it was a lot of fun last year. If you are interested in joining, head over to The Blue Blog and sign up. But better hurry — Alison will have registration open only until midnight! (Or maybe a little longer if the new baby — what a cutie-pie — keeps her busy.) It’s OK if you’re a new sock knitter. New knitters will be paired with new knitters, and there are tons of other knitters to help out if you have questions.

Thank you, everyone, for your comments about the pen pod (thank you Ann for the great, descriptive name).

Helen states:

And better still, you and the front loader got it done. Gives me hope for my front loader.

I haven’t had any trouble felting with my front loader. I use extra-hot wash and cold rinse, and throw in a few old towels. Fortunately I can stop my washer and drain it at any time, so I can see how the felting is progressing. So far everything I’ve tried to felt (admittedly not many objects) has felted quite well. Many people suggest adding a few pairs of jeans to the wash, but I don’t really need my jeans shrunk.

~Kristie opines:

Nice to know that you “got gauge” with THIS moebius project.

hahahahahaha Can you just see a giant pen pod? Maybe I could felt my entire cube at work! That might raise a few eyebrows, though. But it would look so cool!