navel-gazing

well, it worked! putting my poor UFOs on the web succeeded in shaming me into working on them. Over the weekend I put in the sleeves and seamed up Ribby Cardi. Now all it needs is a neckline and a zipper! i wore it around the house in its unfinished state - boy that Lana D'Oro Alpaca is warm.

On sunday morning I met with SpindleRose and other waltham knitters at a cafe. I worked on my Rosedale U again with the new Kureyon. i'm just about ready to join sleeves with body and do the yoke. excitement abounds.

(Saturday, i went to the Fiber Twist. That will need its own post. tomorrow.)

The navel-gazing came when i thought about why i stall aon projects. its most often when i make things for myself. (I'm pretty good at finishing gifts.) The best i can come up with is "fear of failure". I love starting projects. I love to pick the colors and dream about how awesome the finished sweater will be. I love to imagine myself wearing a fabulous finished product. But along the way my inner critic gets loud. She starts to nitpick every detail of the project. i should've used different yarn. a different cast-on. What if it doesn't fit exactly right in the end? what if after all that work, i actually don't like it? 2 sweaters that i knit for myself ended up as gifts to family because i was so over critical that i just couldn't wear them. The first kureyon sweater got frogged. So i think that i get close to finishing and stall because something in me is trying to avoid that self-criticism. if the project isn't really finished, then i can't hate myself for not doing it perfectly, right? there's definitely a disconnect in my brain somewhere.

right now i'm feeling really good about Ribby Cardi. And i'm almost done! maybe i'll break the mental hang-up and finish all my languishing projects. i can dream, right?