In knitting terms, of course! What we're really asking is: how many projects do you have on the needles at once?

I'm definitely not! I tend to have as many projects as I have pairs of needles but thanks to a spate of finishing up this weekend, so I've only (hah!) got a pair of socks, a blanket, a mitten and a shawl on the go at the moment. Of course, I'm itching to cast on Kirstie's pretty ruffled socks (you'll have to wait until issue 40 hits the shops on the 27th, though, I'm afraid) and I've been asked to knit a hat for a friend, so I might cast on a couple more things this weekend.

Mim, on the other hand, is a monogamous knitter who is testing her limits by having two projects on the go at once - Louisa Harding's gorgeous Evelyn jumper and our Simply Knitalong socks. With two such different styles in the office, it was definitely time for a cup of tea and a debate.

Really, says Mim, it's a time and tidiness thing. This way I don't have balls of yarn and bits of knitting all over the house.

I think she's got a point there. Our sofa currently has more WIPs than Mim does - not ideal when my boyfriend wants to watch football or The Wire!

When you're a slow knitter, the last thing you need is to have several projects on the go, says Mim. If I did, I'd finish something about once every five years! That said, I do buy the yarn to start knitting new projects and queue them up ready to start knitting and I will start knitting something new as soon as I've cast off the last project - finishing up doesn't count! I've got a few things waiting to be sewn together.

On the other hand, although I don't count projects as properly off the needles until the last pesky end has been woven in, I don't like the finishing up stage either - something we can definitely agree on!

I like to have different projects for different moods: there's a blanket-in-progress on the sofa because I can knit most lines of the pattern without looking at my hands - great for when I'm watching Torchwood - and the sock lives in my handbag, for queues and bus knitting and the other projects get picked up when I'm in the mood for a mental workout. I wonder: do monogamous knitter get bored?

You do have to be quite single minded, Mim agrees, and it can be quite annoying if you want to knit on a train so I do sometimes have a small side project - like my socks - for that sort of situation.

Mim regularly wears her handknit jumpers and cardigans into the office, while I've just finished my first one - which I started last May. On the otherhand, I've got a growing collection of handknit scarves and hats to brighten up my winter coat. I like to knit cardigans and jumpers, says Mim, perhaps having five hats on the go wouldn't be so bad!

So what have we learned? First, that someone's been pinching our milk again, and tea just doesn't taste the same without it. And second, that while monogamy is great if you want to finish a big project, even monogamous knitters like to have something smaller to take on the train. And finally, that even our very tolerant editor, Debora wants us to do some work now and then.

Haven't you two got books to review and news to gather? she asked sternly although she did add I have to admit I tend to have lots of things half finished. I usually go back and finish them off eventually - sometimes if you make a daft mistake while you're watching something exciting on TV, for example, you've just got to throw something in a cupboard and let it stew for a while!