Korinthia Klein, in the comments yesterday, kindly offered some advice to relieve the doldrums of my coming week:
What's something you've always wanted to do? I always feel excited to
be tackling a project that's just my own. Sounds like you're in a
perfect place to pick something.
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| Doesn't quite look like this yet... |
Considering that I am the QUEEN of
unfinished projects, Korinthia should think twice before encouraging that sort of behavior. My house is replete with the relics of my creative pursuits - items I have begun making in lieu of attending to basic household responsibilities. As of this moment, in fact, I have a pair of socks AND a lace shawl AND a winter hat on the needles (3 separate sets of needles, of course). Also? A crocheted cotton hat is currently languishing on my couch, waiting for me to finish it.
Tell me, am I the only crafter who starts hating all her projects halfway through?
Oh, and just last week, instead of cooking dinner, I spent 2 hours cutting strips from fabric scraps so that the girls could make
this rug for their room.
Of course, at this point, the rug is sitting around only partly done. My daughters, alas, have obviously learned a thing or two from me.
I always hate projects after I start them. They never measure up to the vision. But if I push through that barrier and actually finish them, they're not so bad. Now, if I ever complete that crocheted rug from t-shirt yarn I'll let you know.
ReplyDeleteHa! Well, maybe it's time to pick a mini project. Clean a drawer? Write a letter to a friend who isn't expecting it? Unfinished projects make me itchy. I have a reputation for fast turnaround time on repair work at my store because I hate it when things sit on my bench. (Thanks for the link!)
ReplyDeleteThe worst ones are the ones I get all enthused about, acquire all the materials for, and then get distracted before I start them... I do eventually finish most things that actually get started. This is how I have piles of yarn sitting around for never-started projects. And yet even though I lack the enthusiasm to start, I can't let go of the idea enough to retask the materials.
ReplyDeleteThe theme for the annual Creativity Retreat here this year is "UFOs" -- we are supposed to bring all of our UnFinished Objects and get them completed. I'm not sure that 72 hours will be enough time to get all of mine done. Besides, it's much more fun to start something new... hence the piles all over my house...
ReplyDelete(PS: First weekend in November... want to come?)
Pretty darn tempting - but I would have to hire a UHaul to get them all across country.
DeleteOr buy the UFOs their own plane ticket! ;)
DeleteI have only one unfinished project. I started it in grad school, almost 20 years ago. It's a large cross-stitch of Africa with lots of animals (I had just been working in Africa). I can't pitch it, but even with bifocals I can't really see well enough to cross-stitch those tiny holes anymore.
ReplyDeleteMy husband is great at unfinished projects though, and that's really enough for one household :-)
Umm ... are you implying that there are crafters who start and then finish one project at a time?
ReplyDeleteI don't think I want to be friends with those people. They are scary.
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DeleteAMEN!
DeleteWe won't be discussing the SIX (6) beading projects in progress that are currently strewn about my dining room table... or the 4 mini-quilts for the grand-nieces... or the baby quilt I started before reality set in that I'd better just go buy a gift before the kid turns two...
Long ago I accepted my lack of craftiness and gave away all the supplies I'd bought to half-finish. Now my only unfinished projects are in the garden or writing. It's better this way, though that rag rug really intrigues me!
ReplyDeleteI currently have two quilts that each only have one block to complete before the top can be pieced together, and let's not think about all the others that are nowhere near finishing! So many bead supplies, I don't want to think about how much money spent. I have actually finished craft projects too, but have many more unfinished. And I'm afraid my daughters have inherited the trait as well, particularly my 13 year old youngest daughter - VERY creative but no sooner has she started a project, she's already wanting to do another and rarely finishes. Life is so busy at the moment, but I would love for us to spend even one day a month together working on our UFO's. Maybe it might work for both of us to have the goal of finishing things, even if it is to give away if we no longer want it. Julia
ReplyDeleteTime to buckle down or throw it out ;)
ReplyDeleteI have multiple unfinished paintings all hidden so that The Husband does not see how much cash has been wasted on oil paints! :P
ReplyDeleteI started a project like this one, only with flip-flops! So I have several pairs of dollar store flops, with strips of fabric tied on to them to some extent, and bags and bags of cut-up fabric. The husband has been caught trying to sneak the flops and the fabric out of the house, but so far they are safe -- stashed unobtrusively in the middle of my dining room table.
ReplyDelete