celticdragonfly | Thoughts on my work

I've been trying to get myself ramped up to do a bunch of projects for the upcoming holiday. I've been tired out, and not getting enough of it done, and feeling very cranky about the whole thing. I finally thought through what was going on and discussed it all with

selenite.

I'm making some hard decisions about some of the projects I'd planned doing. I'm realizing that I'm ending up with so many projects for others and so many with deadlines and so many things that I feel I have to do, that I'm beginning to find myself cranky that I even know how to knit and crochet and such. (Let's not even get into how I feel that it ought to translate into being good at other crafts that I am *not* any good at...)

I just hate to let people down. There's not a lot I can do for people I care about. I can't afford to go buy nice things. But I can throw my time into making things for them. And since I can't afford to do much, I then feel like I have to throw all my time into making things to make up for it. And since people tend to undervalue handmade things, and undervalue the work that goes into them - and I've had some saddening lessons in that lately - I end up feeling like I really have to throw a lot of time into it.

selenite thinks I set the bar too high, I think that's why. I feel like nobody is going to value me or what I do, so I have to set it high.

(And people really have no idea the amount of work and time things take. And then there's the various abortive tries nobody ever sees - 'does this work out? Damn. No. Start over. Try again. Find a new pattern. Try again')

It's not working out. It's got me cranky and resentful. This is not how I want to work. I need to get to where I can finish the stuff I must do and then take some time to just do stuff for me, low pressure stuff, get back to where it's actually enjoyable.

I have to stop. That may mean I disappoint people. But I can't work this way.

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But I can't work this way.

So, don't.

It isn't working for you. Stop it. :)

Well, I am. At least cutting back a lot.

But I'm left with the unhappy feeling that people won't like me because I'm neither buying them nice presents or making them involved fancy things.

I dunno; I've grown to feel that being unliked by shallow people is a badge of honor.

I don't make a lot of projects for other people, but I've been pretty lucky with most of the ones I've done; my parents and siblings certainly appreciate the time that goes into the projects, and mostly I've had good luck picking stuff that they really like besides. (I have yet to make a successful adult-sized sweater for anyone besides my mom, though....)

If they won't like you because you don't give them presents, are they worth being liked by to start with?

I hear this sort of thing a lot.

Trouble is, I often don't feel like I'm worth being liked to start with.

Plus, other people do lovely stuff for me, and I feel like I should do it back.

I'm sorry to hear it's gotten so frustrating; one of the nice things about my current level of craftiness is that no one really expects me to be good at this or do any of it, so if I go make a simple scarf for someone, that person considers this a Cool Thing that I've done. Hobbies that are leading to more stress aren't being very hobby-like anymore, no...

(Also, I love the icon.)

I was going to say that a scarf isn't so simple and takes lots of time. Then I remembered that the scarf I'm working on - my only scarf so far, I'm a bit weird that way - is an involved complicated lace design done in fine laceweight yarn and I've modified the pattern.

*headdesk*

I am pretty good at this. And I suck at trying to do simple.

Yeah, the scarf I'm doing now is in worsted wool yarn, a simple mobius strip done in a basic moss stitch. The trickiest part was crocheting a chain of sc for the base so that the center wouldn't be an ordinary chain. And I'm using...er. Two colors, with three skeins of wool total. (I want to get fancier! But I'm nervous about it, because I'm not good at this, and even with the moss stitch I get off-count sometimes and have to correct. So for now, scarves.)

a scarf isn't so simple and takes lots of time

As with most knitting ... it depends on the choices you make. I can put together a simple scarf (6-8" wide x 72" long), usually of two complementary strands of yarn, on #17 (12mm) needles, in 2-3 hours. When I've done so, the recipients have generally been quite happy with the results. Also, the occasional simple project like that is a relaxing break from the more complicated ones.

I agree, though; most handwork is undervalued, and all the "attempts" and the time they take, are invisible.

Try to keep this mantra in mind: perfect is good, done is beautiful.

That thought has helped me on many occasions; I hope it can help you also.

As a cross-stitcher, I completely understand where you are coming from. Even quite tiny looking things take several hours of work (even though I'm quite speedy now!). I find I have to make either something very large or something very small - small things I can do in a week, if motivated, and I don't mind spending the time. Really large things will still be underestimated by non-stitchers, but they are at least obviously A Lot Of Work, and appreciated as such...

And Really Large Things take months or years, so they just can't be done for everyone. So there.

Um... this isn't very helpful, but I'm basically trying to express solidarity!

love

Catherine

I hate it when a hobby turns into a demand from others on my time. That's happening in one of the other organizations I belong to. That's why I've not become as deeply involved in some of the fencon activities as I might have. It shall remain FUN. Only FUN. Not work.

I may have to shed some activities from my other hobby too and get back to the fun parts.

The fun IS supposed to be what it's all about...

I'm kind of in the same position with my involvement in the choir at church. The Worship Team isn't a traditional choir, it's kind of the church's Garage Band, doing the music for the Contemporary service.
Through a string of events that are MUCH too long to bore folks with here, I've gotten stuck running the PowerPoint system that projects the song lyrics on the wall, EVERY WEEK. The rest of the group seems to have forgotten that I also play the guitar, not to mention singing, and I've been working for half a week now on a protest letter to remind them of this, trying not to sound like a diva throwing a hissy fit.

When it quits being fun that's definitely when you need to step back and re-evaluate things. Go do the Me Stuff, that always helps me out.

Given how full your plates are, I'm surprised you get *any*thing else done.

If you don't have scores of hours to spend, maybe you can do other things for people. You already cook, and shared treats are always fun. I don't cook, so I tend to introduce people to good authors or good music. Those things change lives and provide good memories too. You're clever and creative; give yourself some time, & you'll find your own way.

Thoughts on my work

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I sympathize

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