A group from our local yarn shop started a UFO Challenge – and I’m one of the group!  No, we aren’t out looking for aliens – this is an Un-Finished Object Challenge.  At the beginning of the year, we each made a list of 5 Things that we wanted to finish from projects in our stash, queue, or WIPs (Works in Progress).  What qualified as a “Thing” was up to us.  It could be anything from finish the sleeves on the blue sweater, to make the 2nd sock, to sew a project bag, to make something from the variegated yarn.

When the challenge started, we each put $5 in the Prize Pot.  We then drew a number from 1-5, and that was the item on our list that we needed to complete in the first time frame.  We get about 2 months to finish each Thing, which gives us a decent amount of time but yet ensures that we will be done the Challenge before the busyness of the holidays.  At the end of the time frame for each Thing, we all meet to show off our Finished Objects.  If we didn’t finish, we pay $5 to the Pot.  If we DID finish, then we get an entry into the Prize Pot drawing at the end of the Challenge.

I may be a monogamous knitter (meaning I only work on one project at a time) but I have many projects in my stash just waiting to make their way into my queue.  And for whatever reason, I have a few that seem to keep getting passed over in favor of other projects.  For me, the first number to be drawn was for my Tatras Fingerless Mitts.  It was a kit I had won at a yarn crawl last year, and it was a very fun project!  I’m sure they will get lots of wear this winter.

My second Thing turned out to be the Azure Head Scarf that I made with some really beautiful mystery yarn I found in a clearance bin at a fiber festival.  I wear this boho head scarf often – I love it.

My third Thing was the De Stijl Socks from Alice Yu’s book Socktopus.  I made this out of Canon Hand Dyes Charles Merino Self Striping Yarn in the Rhinebeck Rainbow colorway.  I had been given that yarn as a gift and knew that it would knit up into really beautiful, distinct stripes, and this pattern was a perfect fit.  The pattern also taught me a new stitch technique that I really enjoyed doing.

Just this past week I finished my fourth Thing, 10 blocks from The Next Step Blanket by Jane Schwartz.  Many of the block patterns have errors and are a little frustrating for me, so 10 blocks at a time is about all I can handle.  Some blocks are more fun than others.  I think my favorite out of this group was the Faux Quilting design.

This FO is due at the end of August, so I’m done in plenty of time.  The next (and final!) Thing for me will be the Elfe Sweater by Astrid Schramm.  I think I’m right on track to not have to contribute any more money to the Pot and getting the maximum number of entries into the drawing!  🙂

This is the second UFO Challenge I’ve participated in and I love them.  It’s exactly the type of motivation I need to get projects done.  All the info for my FOs can be found on my Ravelry Project page – I’m QuillPen.

Have you ever done a challenge like this?  How do you get all your projects done, especially the ones that seem to often fall through the cracks of a queue?  I’d love to hear your strategies!