Process vs. Product

If you knit a sweater in 2014, but fail to weave in the ends, sew on buttons, and block it until 2015, does it add to the tally this year or last? Sounds a bit like splitting hairs to me. I had every intention of getting this sweater posted prior to 2015, but I'm lazy. And, I didn't get around to it. 

If you've been reading these rambling for any amount of time, you know that there are several other pieces of unfinished business, in the form of sweaters and socks, sitting on a chair in the corner of my bedroom. The pile never gets smaller. It seems like it's one-in, one-out right now. Someday, I will catch-up with myself. *DREAMS*  

It's a really stupid system I have going. I can't wear any of those sweaters, socks, etc..  until they're finished. Wearing those garments is the whole point of knitting them, right? For me, I think the wearing is only a portion of the equation. 

I've often heard knitters toss around the idea of 'PROCESS' vs. 'PRODUCT'. I think members of the sewing community can relate, to a degree. There are those who like to plan more than they actually sew, for example, and, I think a lot of us associate a meditative element or stress release with sewing. Still, there is a level of instant gratification with sewing that cannot be achieved with knitting. If you knit sweaters, you know you're going to spend 40+ hours working on a single garment. You create Every. Single. Stitch. It's far more laborious and requires a different type of commitment.    

For a lot of people, this act of creating, or the process of knitting is enough to fuel them through endless blankets and sweaters, socks, etc... The counting, the intricacy, the charts, these things are why they knit. There's ultimately an endpoint, but it's not the focus or purpose of knitting. The act of knitting, in and of itself is the whole point. 

Then, there's the product knitter with her eye on the prize. Just. Keep. Knitting. The "I will suffer through miles of stockinette, because I get a sweater if I do" knitter. For this knitter, the high comes at the end of a project. The ultimate goal is an FO (finished object, for non-knitters).

I think I'm divided between these two camps. I love to have finished knitted garments and accessories to wear. I also really love knitting just to knit, because it does strange things to my brain. I'm sure my balance between these two camps shifts occasionally. Mostly, I think I'm down the middle. Where do you fall?  

Pattern: Looking Back by Joji Locatelli

Joji doesn't disappoint. This is my third sweater from one of her patterns. They all stand on their own with unusual construction and techniques, interesting shapes, and beautiful stitch patterns. This is exactly the type of project that feeds both sides of my knitter brain.