the blue blog archives: process or product?

Not too much to report from the blue room today. I'm still working on the sleeves for the crazy continental. The first is complete and I've got a few inches done on the second one. I'm thinking about going ahead and blocking the pieces that I've finished so I can sew them up (at least provisionally) and finally see if/how it fits! I still have to shorten the front, but I'd like to slip the whole thing on once before I decide how much to cut off. I don't want to have to do the cutting thing twice.

I'm having the same feeling about the sleeves that Clemence is with hers: they are taking forever! I was thinking 'oh yeah, I'll just whip up the sleeves and be wearing this thing in no time'. News flash - knitting is not only not a way to save money, it is also not a way to save time! At some point I think I started focusing on the finished product and mentally skipped over the actual knitting process. I started expecting a finished sweater and forgot about the knitting, which I really do love. Bad Alison! Does that ever happen to you all? How do you keep from letting the pressure to make progress (either from deadlines or your own expectations) get in the way of the pleasure of knitting?

posted by alison at 9:54 am | in just blogging , the crazy continental

Comments

Hi Alison,
You sure get a lot of knitting done! I'm very impressed! Your crazy continental is looking good!

Posted by: rebecca at November 13, 2002 11:22 AM

I rarely start a project with a deadline in mind, except holiday stuff, and even that doesn't have a "must finish" date. Sometimes, when I get tired of working on something, I just start something else. If I leave the abandoned project handy I'll probably pick it up in a day or so and begin to enjoy it again. Right now I'm working on three different projects, small things really. They'll probably all be finished at about the same time.

Posted by: Larry at November 13, 2002 11:22 AM

Right now I think I'm the queen of knitting on a deadline (well, a few deadlines) and while I do get anxious when I think about all I have to do and by when, I always enjoy the actual time spent knitting. I really only think about the bigger picture when I'm not working on the piece.
I don't know if I'm really a 'process' person though because I can't stand to knit something that isn't going to be useful - eg. unless there's an amazingly good reason to go bigger, I only make1.5" swatches - and I hate when it feels like a project is taking a long time to finish. I don't need to keep the product though or even work on something I find aesthetically pleasing, so I don't think I'm a 'product' person either.

Posted by: kate at November 13, 2002 5:06 PM

I get pretty annoyed when people ask me, "Hey! Will you knit something for me?", and don't offer to pay for yarn. Most of the time I pay more for yarn than I do for a sweater one can get in a store - not to mention pattern books and knitting tools - and the sweater isn't even knit yet. Just that misconception that knitting saves dough or is an inexpensive hobby. Sure, it can be, but in my case it isn't.

And for me, deadlines do take away the pleasure of knitting, just a tad. I have to meet a deadline right now and I find myself procrastinating over the project - almost as if I were finding a way not to knit it just because I have to knit it. Although I do set general time limits for most of my projects, I never say to myself, "Okay, Becky, you have until 'x' date to finish this project", because I know that the pressure will take a bit of joy from the actual knitting - the process is as important to me as the finished product.

Posted by: Becky at November 14, 2002 5:46 AM

There are very few things I've knit that I didn't get tired of before I was done. But I love to have something DONE. As moms, we know the importance of doing something that just stays done, unlike laundry, or dishes, or vacuuming...I wouldn't spend time knitting things that weren't useful, though, and the only feeling better than finishing a project is starting one. Well, this probably doesn't help a whole lot, does it?

Posted by: Gwyn at November 14, 2002 11:51 AM

Gwyn, you hit the nail right on the head! Now that I can see the finished product right around the corner, I am thinking constantly about what I can start next! I am trying to be sensible and talk myself into picking up Native (my one UFO) or getting to work on those Xmas gifts (no pressure, no pressure!).

Posted by: alison at November 14, 2002 1:51 PM