Calling it Quits

I had a totally different idea for a blog post today and gave it up upon starting to work on the very project that I was going to write about.  I'll hopefully be able to save this post for another time...but today I think it's important to let you know that I quit a project.

I don't do that very often when weaving because once the warp is wound it's pretty much used up...and that's money and yarn that I hate to throw away.  But, in light of the angst I would have expended trying to see the tiny threads that I thought I could warp made me realize that 1) this week is ALL about rest and relaxation and 2) $10 worth of silk yarn isn't worth all the stress I was already feeling...and I'd only "sleighed" about 2" worth of the warp.  I cut it up and threw it away.

I think it's very important to know when to call something quits.  Especially when it comes to crafting.  This is about fun, relaxation, spending time making something and learning about ones self in the process.  It isn't (for me anyway) about persevering to the end regardless of how much trouble the project turns out to be.  I find it interesting how easily I can quit a knitting project...but after all, the yarn is reusable and the only thing that's lost is the time I spent working on it.  And I know that no matter what I learned something during that process, even if it is that I don't like a particular stitch, pattern, etc. (for instance, I recently learned that I don't like the concept of a "free sole" sock even if it means that one can replace that sole 100 times.  I plan to wear my socks to death and make new ones.  Life is too short to do something that doesn't make a whole lot of sense in the end).

But weaving is a different story.  I don't like the idea of waste.  I hate throwing away yarn and not being able to use it for anything (trust me I've tried to figure out things I can do with a wasted warp).  I HAVE persevered through some projects, but I knew in the end they were worth the trouble.  This project, however, was way more stressful and annoying than I needed at the time, which, in the end, wasn't anything near what I wanted for this week.  Maybe later.

Below is pictured a project I didn't give up on, thank goodness.  The cones of yarn were picked out well over a year before I started working on the project.  It survived in my head through many different projects, patiently waiting for its turn.  And then, once I got started on it we had the tornado that required us to move...and yet, I finally finished it and hemmed it up and gave it to David as planned all that time ago.  And I think they're just about the loveliest towels I've made!