Fringe Flush

I finally defringed the baby afghan this evening. Now I'm looking at all that fringe--what I removed and the rest of what was cut for the two long sides of the afghan--and wondering what I'm going to do with it all now. It is not in me to throw it out. The price of a ball of thread is not negligible for me so even if I did not have the instincts of a hoarder I can't imagine wanting to waste all that lovely thread.

I know now a fringe on an afghan is not workable with the bamboo. It is just too slippery to hold the half knot with normal wear, including hand wash let alone gentle machine wash.

I think it is going to work fine for the bookmarks though. But that is a lot of bookmarks. In the white only there is over 300X3 2" threads. There is an equivalent amount in the pastels spread among five colors. The bookmark patterns use 2 strands per fringe piece and from 8 to 14 fringe pieces per end depending on the width. The one shown above takes 11 per end--six white and one each of the five pastels--that's a total of 22 white threads and 4 of ea pastel.

Hmm. Well if I did my math right, it would take 21 bookmarks just like that one to use up all the fringe cut for the afghan.

Ah, but before I can store the ones I just removed in a tidy fashion along with the rest, I'm going to have to dampen them and lay them out on a clean towel to dry. Yet another tedious task.

I am so ready for this afghan project to be behind me. I was so loving it right up to the moment I stitched the last row. I am just not a good finisher. I have over a dozen sewing projects in various stages of unfinshed. And that's only if I count the bookmarks all as one project. Since I have approaching 300 off the hook of which nearly 100 still need their tails tucked and to be blocked, nearly 200 have had that done but are awaiting their wardrobe of ribbon, beads, buttons etc. Only 30 odd are in a completed state suitable for gifting or sale if I choose to go that route.

I did a post nearly two years ago that accounted for all of the unfinished projects I had at the time. I think it is time for a redo on that accounting as a few of those were finished, several more were begun and finished since then and several more begun and not finished.

Erm, I just re-read that post and only one of the sixteen items on it has been finished. Several have changed in significant ways. And just off the top of my head I could add another nine begun since then and that's not counting this afghan or the several dozen untucked, unblocked, undressed bookmarks.

*shakes head sadly*

My issues with finishing is one of the things giving me pause about putting the bookmarks up for sale. The only reason I'm contemplating it at all is the possibility of earning money for more sewing and craft supplies. Like the 80 odd skeins of DMC thread I need to have if I'm to do the project I have my heart set on for my Secret Santa giftee this year.

Well I guess I should give myself some credit for having finished two shawls in seven months and each on time for the targeted gifting occasion. If not for the fringe fluster I was on target to finish the afghan within a month of my grand-nephew's birth. And I did not abandon the project as I so often have done when finding myself lacking the knowledge or skill or equipment to complete it. And at this moment I'm feeling fairly confident that I'll have a suitable fringe on this afghan inside of two weeks.