Thursday 11 April 2013

Oh, My Shattered Nerves!

Blocking.  I fear it. 

Blocking: Method of dressing a fabric by stretching and pinning it into place for air-drying or during steam finishing; used to display stitch pattern and establish finished proportions.  See also Dressing.

As defined in the Glossary of The Principles of Knitting by June Hemmons Hiatt.  Awesome reference.

From the same book:

Dressing: Method of cleaning and finishing a fabric so it has the correct proportions and a smooth surface that displays stitch and color patterns to full advantage.

Sounds simple enough.  I have the tools.  I just bought a set of lace blocking wires.  I have T-pins.   

There are 2 shawls, 2 scarves, and a cowl that haven't been photographed.  The shawls are mine, intended for wearing this past winter.  They weren't.  A scarf and the cowl are intended for sale, but at this rate.. And the last scarf is a silent auction donation.  This is the one that brings me to this post. 

I must confess something to you... I have blocked before.  And it scared the crap right out of me.  But in the end, I realized that I was worrying for no good reason.  This is not uncommon for me.  I worry a lot about things I needn't worry about. 

Anyway, this scarf.  I want it to be perfect sooo badly, that I want to procrastinate blocking it.  Screwed up, huh.  Let it scare me to the point of putting it off? It's just not possible.  This has to be in the mail in a couple of days to satisfy my own deadline. 

What I'm trying to figure out, is why this is.  Why does it bother me to finish it off? Why do I think I'll mess this up? Why am I scared?  I know I can do it...I have. Perfectionism? Fear of success? Fear of failure?

Does something so simple scare you? or do I need to seek professional help...

2 comments:

  1. Maybe it's because we are made of the same genes, but this happens to me ALL the time.

    Even just when organizing the house.

    If you find out how to get past it, please share!

    :D

    ReplyDelete