I’ve figured out what it is that motivates me on a knitting project. It’s the challenges and the questions about the projects.

It always takes me longer to finish the second sock; because I have no doubt that it will turn out correctly. I know it will fit, and that I have enough yarn, and that everything will be OK. When everything is going great with a pattern, and all the variables appear to be working out, I tend to lose interest.

The things that are not going so great are the ones that spur me forward. If I’m not sure if I have enough yarn, I hurry to get through one skein or hank so I can use that to better estimate the rest of the project. If I’m not sure something will fit right, I can’t wait to finish it to know for sure. If I’m sure it isn’t quite right, I rush to the end to decide how I can modify and fix it. If an upcoming section of a pattern completely and totally baffles me, I work as quickly as possible to get to that part so I can work to figure it out.

So in the rest of my life, maybe this is true as well. I thrive on pressure and challenge. The smooth and easy spells in life are boring. Maybe I even create the messes so I can fix them.

If that’s the case, this upcoming week should be great. You see, at this moment, I don’t have the faintest idea how to get through it with the well-being of my family, and my own sanity intact.