Some people are struck with inspiration and are immediately decided on a project. I, however, while sometimes decisive, often need time to settle on a specific project with a specific yarn. I know what I have (that's one list), and I keep another list of projects I wanted to make. Several months ago I joined the two lists into the keystone list-nerd "knitlist" spreadsheet. I added a section for completed projects, which is a nice motivational touch -- "look how many projects I've finished since the beginning of the year!"

The list gets updated when I get new yarn, or if I finally figure out what to do with those three skeins of steel gray Kid Silk Haze (hasn't happened yet ...), or if I have still more projects that I want to make. I've got the total yardage information for each yarn in my stash, so that I can compare what I have to the project requirements. Yes, I am a party animal.