I object.
It's kind of funny when we call our current knitting project a "UFO." At least, it makes for some funny mental imagery [insert funny comic of a half-knit shawl hovering over the cat.]
Is this joke the reason we call our completed projects "finished objects?" I hate calling my knits "objects."
“object [noun ob-jikt, -jekt; verb uh b-jekt]
noun
1. anything that is visible or tangible and is relatively stable in form.
2. a thing, person, or matter to which thought oraction is directed.
3. the end toward which effort or action is directed;goal; purpose.”
An "object" is... a mug, a couch, a pencil, some tweezers. Or a spaceship. "Object" doesn't capture the fact that I've put so much of myself into it. It's made with love, gosh darn it, like I can't say about the plastic suction soap dish that keeps falling off my shower wall. (If anything, that object is full of malice.)
In our ready-made, fast-consumption society, an object is something I buy at Target because I gave into their marketing in a moment of weakness. Most of us agree we need less of these objects in our lives.
My knits, however, are full of love, full of memory, let's face it, full of time and money and skill. All the podcasters have a section in their show called "Works in Progress." A "WORK," though, that is a Sonata by Mozart, timeless and beautiful.
Why turn a "Work" into an "object?"
"Project" is a pretty good option, if "work" seems too proud, because that implies that it's taking my time and attention. A "project" is something to be proud of. "Project" gets used by contractors, and projects usually involve expertise, and a team (designer, dyer, etc), and quality materials... like my sweaters.
I don't buy such expensive yarn for "objects." I buy it for a "work" or a "project."
Sorry (not sorry) about my semantic obsession. I find immense satisfaction in finding just the right word, and "object" isn't it!
"Objects" are usually inanimate, unworthy of love and attention. Can't say that about my knits. They're full of love and attention; they're full of me.