I don’t do “projects.” I do long-term relationships. I started my novel-in-progress more than two years ago, and it’s just now shaping up enough for me to think about sending it to an editor. Lord knows when it will be done, though I’m hoping by year-end. I’m forever walking the line between optimism and soul-crushing disappointment as I live with this story over and over and over and over again.
That’s why it’s nice to finish something, anything. And to finish a large project, well, that’s particularly exciting.
So today I reveal to you a new bedspread, a year and a half in the making. The pattern of the double wedding ring is common in quilts, but this is a knitted version. Turns out that for the cost of the yarn, I could have bought a hand-made Amish quilt, already done.
But where’s the fun in that?
The pattern for this, if you are a masochist dedicated knitter like I am, can be found on Ravelry. It’s easy to knit, but putting all those pieces together? Oy. 1,080 pieces make up the rings, and the assembly alone took more than six months.
As with all long-term relationships, there’s the thrill at the beginning. You can’t wait to get started and get to know each other. Each day brings new discovery and excitement, and you want to spend all your time with your new love.
Then one day, you’re sick of your beloved. The relationship isn’t as easy as you thought it would be, and you want space. Maybe you cheat, taking on a smaller project on the side, such as making sweaters for your granddog, or patchwork throws from spare yarn. You have to re-evaluate your commitment.
Yet when the relationship is real and true, though, you hang in there until you get to the other side, and you fall in love all over again. You notice how the relationship stays with you even on your worst days, waiting patiently without judgment. It’s worth all the trouble and hassle and time.
Under the bedspread at night, I am cozy and safe and secure, the same way I feel in a relationship that works. And as I enjoy the satisfaction of completion, I am buoyed again and know I can finish anything I start, even those pesky manuscripts that aren’t yet ready to release.
With our beloved, whether a person or a project, if we hang in there, we can be more than we thought we could. Safe and secure and warm, we can soar.
Do you have projects that take forever to complete? Please tell me I’m not the only one!
Wow, Nadine, this is gorgeous! I can’t even imagine being able to knit this. It’s really a treasure. I have a double wedding ring quilt, but it doesn’t have the vibrancy this one does.
I have so many unfinished projects–heavy sigh.
Me, too, Tina. I have three other quilts in some stage of production, plus knitting needles lying around with various lengths of yarn hanging from them.
Interesting thing about this quilt — it’s really easy. It’s all knitting, and the only trick is to decrease stitches. Because the pieces are small, I could take them with me on trips and do them bit by bit. The assembly took forever, though, and I didn’t think of that at the time!
Nadine, there is so much to love about this post! All the way from your comparison of projects to long term relationships, to that quilt, to your WIP’s progress, to that adorable doggie sweater! I do envy your commitment and tenacity. Like Tina, I have many “I’ll finish it someday” projects. To look at them makes me weary. Somehow, they’re a reminder that either life will be too short to complete them, or on the contrary, too long for me to keep making excuses for not attacking them! Hugs! 🙂
Bella, it’s always great to hear from you! Thanks for the kind words. Hugs right back at ya!
Believe me, I have a LOT of unfinished projects, from book manuscripts to crafts. If I don’t take on anything new, I have at least five years’ work lying around waiting for me to get to them. I’m too optimistic about what I can do.