"An essential aspect of creativity is not being afraid to fail." Edwin Land
I'm sure there are many different reasons some of us let projects languish. Sometimes it's just a lack of time. Sometimes it is a loss of interest in a particular project, especially when a more exciting one comes along. But I know that with my Equinox Yoke Pullover, it was fear of failure that kept it sitting on a shelf for 3 years. Which is pretty silly when I think about it. After all, it's only knitting.
But when you learn to knit from sources which stress the importance of well-done finishing work, it can be intimidating. For example, the seaming section of The Knitter's Companion (which, by the way, is a great resource) opens with these words:
"Seaming is a very important step, second only to knitting quality, in giving a professional look to a garment. Practice these methods on knitting samples until you have flawless results to prevent stunning work from being relegated to the closet, never to see the light of day."
Well-intentioned, and good advice, I'm sure, but it still makes my shoulders tense up just reading it. How many of us have time to sit around practicing until we get "flawless results"? I feel pretty good if I talk myself into knitting a gauge swatch.
But like I said, it's only knitting. and I finally decided I would rather finish this sweater, and either be able to wear it, or to learn from my mistakes and move on. So, along with a vow to no longer let fear of failure be the thing that actually keeps a knitted item "relegated to the closet", I can show you my finished sweater:
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| Woo-hoo! I'm done! |
Pattern: Equinox Yoke Pullover by Michelle Rose Orne
Source: Interweave Knits Fall 2006
Materials: RYC Cashsoft DK, and US 4 and 6 needles
Final thoughts about the sweater and yarn color details are on Ravelry
Join us at Tami's Amis to read about more finished objects, and don't forget to visit this post for the contest.
Posts
That is a gorgeous sweater! The colours are wonderful, it really suits you wonderfully. Congrats on getting it finished after such a long time :)
ReplyDeleteI know just what you mean about finishing, it's my least favourite part of any project. I try to avoid seaming at all costs, so I usually knit in the round but I still have an embrassingly large
number of "finished" projects where I haven't even bothered to sew the ends in! I always do it for gifts, but I'm afraid I'm rather more lax for myself :)
Beautiful sweater -- congrats!!! If it's as comfortable as it looks, this should see a LOT of light.
ReplyDeleteWell done, its gorgeous. Sometimes you just have to give things a go and either succeed or fail and learn from your failures, especially if you know you aren't going to practice! Besides practicing on an easy little swatch isn't the same as doing it on a big complex project.
ReplyDeleteAmazingly beautiful. You should be so proud of yourself! No one likes to do the finishing stuff, seams, weaving in ends, etc. so we all feel your pain.
ReplyDeleteFlawless, for sure! That looks amazing. I think it was your WIP post of this sweater that landed it in my favorites. I keep clicking over and staring at it. Lovely work!
ReplyDeleteJust beautiful!!
ReplyDeleteWow! This turned out fabulous! Love the colors and your finishing is flawless in my book. I really connected with your words in this post because I admit to being
ReplyDeleteone of those knitters with a fear of flawless finishing. I am a perfectionist at heart and cannot bear to "ruin" a knitted garment with less than perfect finishing. But I love how you just faced down your fear and now have a lovely sweater to show for it. Very inspiring!
Love your sweater. It turned out stunning.
ReplyDeleteSometimes some of my projects languish because I love working on them so much I don't want to finish. So, I pull them out every once in awhile and savor every stitch.
So lovely and the perfect colors for you!
ReplyDelete