As I write, I have two new knit designs in progress. The pattern samples are in various states of completion with more than a little knitting to go. Tutorials need to be filmed for one design and I'm in the video editing phase for the other. The deadlines for both projects are completely self-imposed. However, right now I'm not in the mood to knit a single stitch or do any video work and I know exactly why this happens.

As much as I'd like to think I'm a good multi-tasker, or maybe a good time-manager would be a more appropriate characterization, when I have too many projects on my needles I want to shut down and ignore them all. That's why, for the most part, I'm a mostly monogamous knitter.

Even in the before times, when knitting was a hobby and not a profession, I usually only had a single project on my needles at any given time. For me, having too many projects going at once becomes an overwhelming obligation. I can't decide which project I want to work on first so I choose to do none of them.

Many of my fiber friends rib me a bit for choosing to have a monogamous relationship with my knitting and don't consciously understand my motivation. However, when I listen to stitchers around the table I realize that most of them feel the same blockage when they have cast on more than they can handle. Too much yarn and too many unfinished project stashed in every open corner and no way to work through the physical, emotional and maybe even financial burden tied to them.

So how do I deal with project overload when I've strayed from my knitting monogamy? By recognizing I may not be able to finish everything all at once, but I can do something. Progress made on one project, however small it may be, builds momentum and energy to do more.

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