Product or Process?

Are you a product person or a process person??  How do you know which one you are?

By my definition, a product person is one who will not necessarily start a new project while the last project is incomplete.  This type of person likes to see a finished item put to use.  They would be very happy owning one pair of knitting needles because they would not dream of starting a second scarf in a different color while the first scarf is still being knitted! 

On the other hand, the process person is one who enjoys part of all of the process of any craft.  To use a knitting example, the process person may be happiest picking out patterns and buying yarn.  Maybe they have even started projects.  They may love learning new stitches, or the way the project feels rolled up in their lap during the knitting.  But they may be proud owners of 76% of a sweater in blue and 22% of a pair of red socks.

You can usually tell at a glance which person you're dealing with... baskets of yarn overflowing in several rooms, needles stuck into skeins on the coffee table?  Process.  One carefully loaded knitting bag next to the favorite chair?  Project.

I am a process person.  I freely admit that my stash of fabric, yarn, embroidery floss, craft supplies, exceeds the conceivable number of projects I can do in my lifetime.  But as someone once said if his own wife's works in process, it's a lovely pile of stuff and could be considered decorative in some circles.

My cousin Amy is a project person.  I piece a quilt top, fold it, and ponder its beauty.  Amy will make the quilt sandwich, machine quilt it over the weekend, bind and label it like lightning!  Her UFO pile is almost non-existent!! 

Did I mention that process people and project people don't understand each other??  Like Venus and Mars, baby!  She's thinking "why can't you finish this one before you start another one?" and I'm thinking "boy, the woman is an overachiever for sure!!"

Bless Amy and the other project people... sometimes we can convince them to finish OUR projects because they'd rather do that than stare at a UFO!  Oh, and THANKS!!