Project Metrics

Calculating project progress is rife with danger. It is intended for motivation, but the results can be deflating. For example: You mean I have to work on this project three hours a day for the next three months to have a chance in hell of getting it done?

For projects that have been around a little too long, like fish in the refrigerator, even startlingly short projections can lead to procrastination: I’ve been working like a dog on this project for two months, and could use a break. If I am only a week away from being done, what’s the harm in starting work on that set of cushions? Just to get a start, you know?

So as much as possible, I try to avoid such projections. I may shoot for a completion date, but measuring progress mid-stream is to be strongly avoided. And yet, I could not avoid it on the kumihimo woven trim destined for the main curtain panel of my new living room window.



I think it’s fair to say that most of us need small rewards as we work. Reaching landmarks and meeting mid-stream goals does wonders for keeping up the enthusiasm levels for long projects. In sweater terms, it’s like hitting the underarm bind-offs on the sweater body, or completing sleeve #1. But with my braid, I had met all those wonderfully obvious progress indicators. I had woven until my counterweight bag hit the floor for the first time, and repositioned it higher. I had woven until the leading trim end touched the floor. Now, and for the foreseeable future, my progress can only be measured by literally measuring it.

I set Sunday aside as a braiding day. I had other things I was working on, but the large block of the day was to be spent sitting at the maru dai stand. Early in the day I measured the completed braid from top to bottom: 26"
Rough measurement of total completed braid needed for project: 66"
Amount remaining to be braided: 40"

Okay. That’s not terrible. That means I’m over 1/3rd of the way through. And while it seems like I’ve been working on this forEVER, there were large gaps of time when work and travel prevented me from progressing for days on end.

Now, if that is how much I need to braid, and I am hoping to have this completed curtain up by Labor Day weekend, is it even possible to meet that goal? To test this, I placed a large paperclip on the braid as close to the top as possible, turned the television to a court show I had recorded last week, and opened my iPhone clock app to its timer function, setting it to play a Marimba in 10 minutes. Then I started weaving.

I tried to work steadily, but not super-fast. After all, I might be able to sprint at lightning speed for ten minutes, but the results wouldn’t be representative of a marathon session. At the end of the ten minutes I measured. I had made approximately 1/2" of braid. That would be 3" an hour.

As exciting as that sounds, I know to halve this, in order to be realistic. During my sprint session I did not have to let any more length out from my bobbins. That takes time. Nor did I have to chase a bobbin across the room that fell of its hitch. That takes time, too. And there’s the back stretching, and trips to the fridge for more tea, and trips to tea disposal facility, and cat scritching, etc. But still, there was hope. And not only will it be possible to complete my curtain for Labor Day, but I think it could be done by the end of July!



Between two half-hour court shows, and the movie Overboard, I was able to complete 5" of braid on Sunday. Woo HOO! Perhaps by the end of today I will have reached the 50% point!

That’s the maximum I can physically work on this project, even on days when it is the #1 Priority. After a while, sitting forward in a chair that is meant to be set back in, and leaning over a maru dai stand, begins to take a toll. But still, knowing how close I am will make it easier to justify more time spent at the stand in the future. Today, for example, I will 100% guilt free weave while my Judge Judy’s are on, and I’ll look for a second hour of something to weave as well. Two inches is my goal for today.