Process vs. Product

Criquette had an interesting post this week about process vs. product knitting, inspired by this post by Grumperina. Both posts have got me thinking about the whole "process vs. product" idea myself. The terms refer to which you enjoy more, the process of knitting or completing a finished product.

Reading and thinking about both posts, my mind immediately started to compare knitting and crocheting. It occured to me that, to a certain extent, I am a process knitter but a product crocheter. No matter what I do, I always know that I will crochet faster than I knit. And that simple fact makes a world of difference. I really enjoy the process of knitting, which is a good thing, because I don't get FOs as often. That's also why I tend to knit items for myself or as gifts.

With crocheting, of course I enjoy the process or I wouldn't do it as much as I do. However, I also get the added satisfaction of finishing items fairly quickly. That's why I tend to crochet the items I donate to charity. I get a lot more "bang for my buck". I can complete more items in less time, so I have more items to donate, and that makes me feel good as well. That's especially true for smaller items like hats, scarves, and afghan squares. When I crochet larger items, like sweaters or shawls, again those tend to be for me or for people I am giving a gift to, because they take longer to make.

Anyway, the difference between process and product is an interesting point, and I am going to continue to ponder it as I continue to work on my WIPs.