We all (well, most of us) have them. Beadwork projects we started back when we first saw the design or the bead pattern. We knew we had to bead them, the project was just too gorgeous/fun/challenging not to work! But then, a new beading magazine came out or we saw a new bead pattern for sale on Bead-Patterns.com and we HAD to bead that one, right now! No waiting - we had the Need To Bead and to bead that particular pattern immediately. And right then, the UFO pattern established itself.

Yes, I'll admit it. I have too many beadwork UFOs and need to take stock of them. I can answer "yes" to almost all of the answers in the poll, which tells me I need to get a grip on my beadwork. Time to weed them out, reclaim the beads, decide which bead projects to finsih and when. It's a big job, but unless I want to be overwhelmed by UFOs, I need to do it, and soon.

Send me a note with your own UFO story - how many you have/had, what you did, etc. so I can write a follow-up article to this poll and maybe help some beaders who are in ever worse UFO shape that I am. Send your stories to Beadwork.guide@about.com with the word UFO in the subject heading. Meanwhile, here's the poll: