I spent this past weekend crocheting my hands off to finish the April Mist doll pattern that I have been fighting with since early February.  In the end, I did not like how it turned out, I had to make some changes (apparently my doll is too busty or too large for the bodice - that or my stitch is to tight - no, I did not check gauge!) and the doll is still not finished.  I kept thinking, “am I too much of a perfectionist? This should be fun! But I do expect to sell this doll, so it should be completely beautiful, right?.”

The bodice turned out nice, it uses a knot stitch

That has been a difficult thing for me to decide, especially now that I am devoting myself full time to my crafts and this craft site.  The hardest part though, has been the fact that when I do crafts for fun, I tend to leave the work unfinished and then move to another more exciting pattern or project or start buying materials or other pattern books instead on focusing on finishing the current (and often, very beautiful) project.  Does that happen to you too?

When I get into “Job” mode, though, I tend to push myself, sometimes a little too hard.  I work past discomfort and I focus on the money that will come in.  I don’t particularly enjoy that either, because the reason I am devoting this time in my life to crafts is to not only get pleasure from what I do, but create beautiful things that others will value because of the love, energy and care I put into making it happen. My buyers will detect that “special” touch and be delighted to pay for my art (Ok, so I tend to be a bit of a dreamer most of the time).

So how to tell when you have shifted your focus too far?  I’ve made a little list to help me out.

I modified the hat too, I did not have enough thread

Whether or not you will sell your completed art work or not, whether you present it as a gift or not, you cannot really know that when you start a project (well, some of us do not, other people start making a gift and end making the gift and give it to the person they meant the gift for – for me that does not always work out), so the goal is to do your best work, worry about details, and make something that you are proud of, no matter what.  If you look at your clay pot art and think “No one will notice that distorted flower in the background”, let me tell you this… You know it is distorted and it will eat at you if you leave it as is.  My aunt still complains that my great grandmother Carmelita made her unravel her crochet work when she made a mistake; but if your mistake will affect the end result, you need to correct it.  The recipients of your work will thank you for it and so will your conscience!

So remember, whatever the purpose of your craftwork, enjoy the process of making it to the fullest and you will find yourself making the masterpieces you never thought you would make.