Hello, My name is Jeannie and I like to begin things. It’s really, really hard for me to finish things. I also suffer from the related affliction of procrastination.
It’s just that the idea of something has, let’s face it, the potential to be perfect, while the finished product so often is not. I like to live in the glow-y warm haze of ideal perfection, imagining how wonderful that sage green alpaca vest is going to look on my dad; not, “why is the ribbing around my arm so wavy?”
So far, in 2012, I have completed FIVE KNITTING PROJECTS. That’s a major accomplishment for me (even though three of those projects were on the brink of completion at the end of 2011).
Project 1: Mom’s shawl
Project 2: Dad’s vest (second try, he didn’t like the color of the first vest I made)
Projects 3, 4, 5: Three pairs of bubble gum pink sock slippers for my sister and her two little daughters.
So that leaves me in a quandary. Does this give me license to start a new project?
My heart screams, “YESSSS!”
My head sighs,”But there are so many projects left to go…”
I generally keep about one to two dozen projects aloft at any one given moment. Some of the overlap is understandable, because one needs a quick little project that can fit in a purse, and bigger projects for at home while watching oscar-nominated films, and then too, birthdays and special occasions pop up and require rush status. But, admittedly, a large part of this is that it is painful for me to finish a project. Not pleasurable as some people find. I had an ache in my gut when I put the last of my new year’s cards in the post today. And that’s the first time I’ve actually mailed all my cards within the year intended since 1993 (when Bella was born).
After some tea, and some thought, I made a decision today: I will use this momentum to finish two more quick easy projects (Bella and Christian’s socks for Easter baskets) and then start a new baby vest for a yet-unborn new niece or nephew. Chad’s sister is pregnant!
Maybe, just maybe, I’ll buy some yarn too. Shhh, don’t tell my mom, she thinks I already have enough for my lifetime. That’s so untrue! Anyway, I delight in the anticipation of future projects from my yarn stash…THAT is a pleasure.
