On process or project

I've suspected for awhile that I am a process knitter, rather than a project knitter. I think this is why I stick to small projects: because I want to be able to do a wide variety of techniques, which is what I find interesting in knitting. Having a finished object at the end is a bonus.

I've been working on a project for two years. It's a project I started because I loved the way the finished object will look. But the process itself is monotonous: mitered squares, over and over and over and over. Like 50 or so mitered squares. Feels like 500. Then there are all those tail ends to weave in before I can felt the object. The mitered squares average 4 colors each. That's 8 tail ends per square. I should have been doing them all along, but I haven't. I think I'm on Square 33. That's a boatload of weaving in that's waiting for me.

If I loved something else about the project -- the yarn or the needles -- it would probably be ok. But the yarn is shetland (rough and scraggly) and the size 5 needles I have are plastic -- excellent needles for the yarn, but no tactile or visual pleasure in them at all.

I would scrap the project, but I spent too much money on the yarn to feel good about doing that. I want the project to be a gift for somebody special. I think that's the only thing that actually keeps me plugging away at it.

Loving the color combinations and the look of the finished object is not enough to keep me wanting to work on a project. I knew when I bought the yarn that I didn't like the feel of it in my hands; I should have paid attention to that.

Lesson learned.