If you are going to do it, do it right was one of the things my father told me often as I was growing up . You know how as kids we just want to get the chores done so we can get back to whatever it is that we would rather do?  For me it was reading. But he was having none of it. He said to do it right. Which meant HIS way.

I get that.

As a mom I know there is MOM clean and there is KID or HUSBAND clean. Mine is well, cleaner, than theirs. I know that as moms sometimes we’d rather do it ourselves and have it done right than have it done half-way by someone else.

If I lived by that if you are going to do it do it right mentality I wouldn’t have had this granny afghan to snuggle up under when I had a bad cold this weekend.

Why? Because when I bought all of the yarn to make it I had a much fancier granny square pattern in my hand. It was super cool and different from the usual granny square. Just fancier. I bought it and the yarn and tried it several times. Each time I ended up taking it apart. I just couldn’t get the pattern right.

So I put the whole bag of yarn and the fancy pattern away for a while. It sat in my storage space mocking me whenever I turned on the light. “Hey there, Vicki”, it would say. “You spent an awful lot of money on this stuff and you’re letting it all go to waste.”

And then one day, I decided to grab up that bag of yarn and make the afghan with regular old granny squares.

Now, some may say I didn’t do it right, that I didn’t achieve my goal because I didn’t follow the fancy pattern I bought (and bought all of the yarn for). But the way I look at it – I DID achieve a part of my goal by finishing the afghan. Period.

Sometimes doing any old way is better than never doing it at all.

If I had determined I was going to crochet that bad boy exactly the way the pattern said I would still have a bag of yarn sitting there in the storage room mocking me every time I turn on the light.

Now I have a cozy afghan to curl up under when the weather is chilly and I have the sniffles.

Take that you mean old bag of yarn. Take that! 

So what projects do you have hanging around taunting you?

Is the if you are going to do it do it right school of thought holding you back?

How could you let go a bit and work on it anyway?