How many projects are too many projects?

Last week when I itemized the non-spinning-related works-in-progress (7) Heklica noted that it would freak her out if she had that many.  Instantly I thought, Gosh yeah, that would freak me out too! and I had to remind myself that we were talking about me. How is it possible that 8 (I started another on Friday) works in progress don't freak me out? 

Let's discuss.

Is it because I'm actively rotating my way through all but 2 or maybe 3 of them, and even finished one last night (yay, back to 7!)?

Is it because I move through the day in a fog of caffeine and chocolate and just don't notice the ones sitting on the sewing table?

Is it because I haven't had much opportunity or desire to sew lately such that I would see how much I would have to move from the sewing table to open it and get the machine up?

or is it just that I have become a compulsive knitter with no self-restraint?

Oh dear.

To my credit: I do knit often through most days regardless of my environment, for which not all projects are suitable or at the right stage of construction. I want something small for the bus, something mindless for public transit, something with the exact-right combination of needle and yarn size for stiff fingers, something soft on stressful days, something robust on busy days full of fortitude, and so on.

Which leads me to today's predicament:

I am going to Sandra's for knitting and tea and cookies.  Yaaayyyyy!  But I don't know what to bring.  All I care about knitting is project 8 (now 7) and it's not only too big, it's too close to a decision point.  You don't want to have to stop for something like that while visiting over tea and cookies. 

What I should bring is the stripey project - soft and friendly and mostly mindless - but this is a stiff-finger day and the needle/yarn combo can be a little awkward to manage (I know, because I tried yesterday to resist project 8/7 with it and I lasted all of three rows.)

What I could bring is sock yarn I forgot I wound into two cakes for emergency cast-on purposes, and needles, and a pattern I had drafted out in the winter and printed and put in the project cupboard and then also forgot about until I spotted said yarn and rifled through the papers in the cupboard to see if there was a good pattern for it.  Can you say, 'serendipity'?

or maybe I will bring something else entirely... like my handspun scarf?  It's probably just about perfect.

Anyway I think this is why having so many projects doesn't freak me out - I need them.  Still, I might not need ten of them, so I guess I'd better watch it. I have a bad feeling it would be pretty ugly to find out the hard way how many are too many, you know?