Balance of Process and Completion

December 19th, 2006

I don’t think it will surprise anyone, whether you know me or not, that I am cutting it really close with my Christmas knitting projects. I only just started one pair of gloves a few days ago, and haven’t completed the first glove. I still have to complete a scarf – albeit a very quickly knit scarf. I also have to fix the fingers in the first pair of gloves that I have already completed and washed.

While I have been trying to decide in my head if I will be able to complete my goals by Christmas or not, I’ve been feeling more and more the need to procrastinate. I don’t have that love of the process feel that I sometimes get while working on an exciting project. Perhaps this is due to the fact that I’m knitting something that I have already knit once. Although there is a bit of variation and creativity because I’m making a larger size that wasn’t in the pattern.

This has got me to thinking about what makes my knitting so different sometimes. There are projects that I’ve started with excitement over something new, and finished in a minimum amount of time. Then there have been projects such as the no-longer-birthday-shawl that took over six months to finish, and by the time it was completed I knew so much more from when I cast on. The speed in which I finished these projects has had nothing to do with how fast I can knit, or how easy the project was. The shawl was 95% garter stitch for goodness sake.

What is it that causes the time and motivation it takes for me to complete a project vary so much? I think it has something to do with balancing two things, both of which I love about knitting. I find the process of knitting to be a very soothing activity. Whether it’s the simplicity of garter stitch, or a complex lace pattern. Knitting has been the only craft that has really drawn me in for the long term, and I think that is completely due to my enjoyment of the whole process. Couple this sometimes meditative feeling I get while I knit, and the excitement over what I will have accomplished when I complete a project, and you have a craft that is perfect for me.

When these two things get out of balance, things may not go well. If I’m too focused on the finished product I can’t enjoy what I’m actively doing, and feel frustrated at how slow I feel. When I’m too focused on a particular technique or method, I either have to find a practical way to create something using the new knowledge, or lose interest.

And this will all explain why I’m here creating a philosophizing blog post, instead of knitting like mad to get these Christmas presents done!

This entry was posted on Tuesday, December 19th, 2006 at 8:07 pm and is filed under Knitting. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.

Comments are closed.