Notes from the Spring Creek Arts Guild

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So Many PhDs

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Did y’all know that I have multiple PhDs? No, I do not have even one doctoral degree, but I have many, many Projects half-Done around my house. In the crafty world, these are also known as WIPs (Works In Progress) or UFOs (UnFinished Objects)—or even PIGS (Projects In Grocery Sacks). PhD makes me feel smart, WIP makes me feel hopeful, and UFO and PIGS makes me feel like a bad person, so I tend not to use those terms. Besides, I have adopted the practice of occasionally sifting through all of my projects and culling those that I think I will never finish.

I am a big believer in a nowaste approach to life, partially because of my upbringing, partially because of a combination of frugality and environmentalism, so I rarely just throw away a UFO that I have decided I will never finish. If it is a yarn project, I may “frog” it, which is a word for unraveling the yarn, derived from “rip it, rip it,” then use the yarn for something else or give it to someone who would enjoy it. If it’s a sewing or quilting project, it will get “destashed,” which means to give it to someone else, or it may get repurposed as a table runner or pillow cover instead of a fullsized quilt. Single quilt blocks, “orphan blocks,” get made into potholders as do practice quilting “sandwiches.”

Yesterday my daughter-in-law came over with crochet PIGS that she had started in her freshman year of college. That inspired me to get out a crochet cardigan that has sat idle for at least two years. Last night when I was able to sit down for awhile, I sorted out the project, read the pattern again, found where I left off, and started crocheting again. While I worked, I contemplated this PhD habit. I know there are people who, if they were in charge, would make it illegal and morally reprehensible to start a new project before finishing another project. Thankfully those people are not in charge. There are many good reasons for letting projects rest, mellow, and mature like yeast dough or fine wine.

As I was crocheting along, I remembered that the last time I worked on this project, I had a hard time remembering the sequence of stitches and often had to rip back and try again. That is probably why it was packed away at the time. Last night, I was quickly able to follow the sequence without even thinking about it. This happens so often that I have concluded my brain must do some background processing during my PhD rest periods, so that it knows exactly what to do the next time I pick up the project. There is one good reason for PhDs—keeping the brain active and giving it time to pave the neural pathways required.

Another major reason I like PhDs is that I can match my craft to my situation or mood. The crochet project is a soft cotton and modal blend yarn that feels good in my hands, even on a blazingly hot day like yesterday. I have a three-quarters finished pair of wool socks right by my chair, but who wants to work on wool socks when it is nearly a hundred degrees? Not me!! I like to do beaded knitting, but do that only at home where I can keep a little dish of beads nearby. Beads do not work well on airplanes or even in cars, so I also keep travel-friendly projects ready to go at all times, like socks or my beat-up old tackle box with my appliqué quilt blocks project contained within.

One final upside to PhDs—I go on the occasional “finisha-thon” and will finish several projects in a very short period of time. What a fun and satisfying practice that is! One summer I finished all of my knitting PhDs, washed and blocked them, then stored them away for fall. When cool weather came, I had an entire new wardrobe of handknits ready to wear and share. So if you feeling guilty about not finishing things, take heart! Get in there and inventory what you have, then make a plan for redeeming all those UFOs and PIGS. You will be glad you did, I promise.

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