Wednesday, May 05, 2010

Stitching Blogger's Monthly Question.

The lovely Lee (Lake Stitcher) has taken up the torch of the SBQ, and this is the first:

Suppose we say that there are two types of stitchers.   

There are those who enjoy the “process” of stitching.  They stitch for stitching’s sake and if something gets finished, so much the better, but it’s not necessarily the end goal.   Primarily, it’s the application of needle and thread to cloth that makes them happiest.

Then there are those who are “project” stitchers.  They move steadily through their projects, certainly enjoying their stitching time, but finding their greatest joy in the completed stitching.  

If you had to pick one to describe yourself, which type of stitcher would you be?  I imagine that we could all say that we fall somewhere in between, but really think hard about this and try to pick just one.  And once you’ve decided whether you’re a Process or Project stitcher, tell us if your recognize that approach in other parts of your life.

I think I've changed as I've aged. The reason I had/have so many UFOs is that stitching was a process thing for me - the stitching was all, and even if I didn't particularly like the project, I had to stitch with whatever resources were available at the time.

As resources increased there was more available to my taste, and I wanted to make things to decorate my home, even if it was just a rented room in a shared house. And as my skills increased, I wanted to make gifts for people - and of course, gifts come with deadlines...

And now I'm older, I'm more conscious of the use and misuse of resources and the impact I have on the environment, and so I'm working through my stash, and deciding what I want to finish. I think I'm also more aware of wanting to enjoy what I have, and what I've worked on. A project stuffed in a drawer isn't filling its potential ... which is partly what the Year of the UFO was all about.

As a knitter, I'm much more of a project person, and always have been - which is rather bizarre, but I put that down to knitting mostly practical items which I need and will use.

2 comments:

riona said...

Good question and an interesting response. Inspired by your example, I have tackled the sme question on my own blog.

demeter83 said...

That's really difficult. I think I stitch for the finished piece (and as such watching to grow as I go along - does saying that classify as cheating?), having said that, I don't like sitting and watching TV or a DVD and not doing anything, so in that case I stitch for teh sake of stitching because I don't like doing nothing, but out of the two I'm probably closer to finished piece!
Kim x