Knitting Psychology 101

I am at a complete standstill with two of my WIPs. For the longest time I have had the tendency to do this, especially with larger projects. Currently, it is my husband’s sweater, and the cabled throw. As I look at patterns, read blogs and drool over other knitters’ finished projects I wonder why this is so difficult for me. It is not for a lack of wanting to finish. I have done smaller projects here and there. Latest was a link for the ‘Friendship Chain of Yarn’ (thank you ‘Maven’ for getting me involved in the project). There are so many things I want to knit but I feel guilty for not finishing the others first. Then I got to thinking about the reason for this trend and I realized I am afraid to finish. I am convinced the end result will not please me, or in the case of my husband’s sweater, please him. I am not the kind of person who would be upset about the amount of work involved for a project that is never worn. It would be the lack of something nice for him to wear. Does that make sense? Probably not, but at least I was able to pin point the source of my hang-up. I am wondering if there are others who feel this way and would be curious as to how they resolved the problem. I know I either have to a.) avoid patterns that require a lot of attention to sizing and fit, or b.) just suck up and deal, enjoying the process of knitting. I admire the knitters on Ravelry that create beautiful projects and create their own patterns. What really amazes me is when I read about how long they have been knitting! Many have only been knitting for a few years. I have been knitting for about 17yrs. and still lack the skill – or maybe confidence – needed to take myself beyond what I see as a very stunted level. Ah, well…enough self-analyzing for now, I am going to finish that sweater! See? I feel more confident and motivated already. Maybe the ‘first step’ in overcoming all stumbling blocks is acknowledging why you are behaving a certain way to begin with. Cripes! I have never been this reflective about knitting before. Kinda weird. I gotta get outta here-it’s giving me the creeps!