The other morning, I was inspired to grab some chunky, springy colored yarn and thick needles to make a scarf. Mind you, I live in southeast Texas, so we don't get many cold, scarf-wearing type days. I basically concentrated on that project only for a few hours-finished the skein, made a 30ish inch long keyhole scarf. Bonus-if needed, it can be worn as an earwarmer/head scarf too! My reasonably quick progress made me grab some worsted wool and size 7s to try and make a quick scarf for Christmas at Sea.
I forgot how long worsted takes to knit up.
Two hours in, 32 stitches across, I had 8 rows of garter stitch and 36 rows of a basketweave pattern. My progress at this point was something like 6 inches long. Slightly frustrated with my slow progress, I grabbed some smoother chunky yarn and size 10s to start a garter stitch scarf. I could at least pay attention to the tv with garter stitch...
Ninety minutes later-about 6 inches worth of scarf. Took 30 minutes less, but wasn't as...impressive. Was just kind of boring.
When I picked back up the needles today, I grabbed my green worsted basketweave scarf. Why? It was prettier. It was more interesting. It was going to take longer to finish, but it would be something I'd like to give more in the end.
Too many times, we find ourselves in situations where we want to finish something, but it looks like it'll take forever-there's no clear end in sight. No guarantee that the outcome will be as fantastic as we imagine in our heads. Craft projects, work projects, friendships, relationships. Sometimes we go a different route, hoping for faster, easier satisfaction...but it's not always as pretty as if we held on to the first vision. Had I just kept working on the green scarf, I'd be twice as far along than starting today with two 6 inch projects. So I'm trying to focus only on the green scarf. Much like I'm going to try and focus on the long-term benefit with friends or boyfriends. When I've jumped into relationships of any kind without really building a good foundation first, I've always been hurt. I had the quick satisfaction, but they weren't necessarily "pretty, scrapbook worthy" times to remember.
I want the "pretty, scrapbook worthy" memories. If that means fewer completed projects, so be it. Finished is better than perfect-and everyone has their different definition of "perfect". How about "happiness is better than perfect"? That's my aim now-just to be happy :)
*and hopefully with fewer half-started projects piled in the basket!*
No comments:
Post a Comment