Product vs. Process Crafting

I hear a lot about "Process versus Process" in material that I read and listen to.  I have mostly heard it referring to knitting, but it can be applied to sewing as well.  It can actually be applied to anything that you can think of (some you may have to think harder than others), but we'll just focus on crafting.

Process crafters are simply crafting for the sheer bliss of doing something.  Knitters love the hypnotizing rhythm of the knits and purls, quilters enjoy cutting large pieces of fabric up into many small pieces, and then sewing them back together, scrapbookers could happily sit for hours trying to find the perfect colors of paper to complement each other.  If you find yourself working on projects and you're not really worried about when you get them done, but rather are enjoying the creative process, trying new things and maybe taking risks with the projects, you may enjoy the process more than the finished product.  Being a process crafter can be described as crafting for yourself, rather than for other people.  This means crafting for the purposes of relaxation, maintaining sanity, etc, not necessarily making crafts for yourself.

Product crafters are more pleased with the finished product, rather than enjoying the time when they are making the project.  This is pretty self-explanatory.  Your projects may have a deadline (even if the deadline is vague or mobile), and you may not particularly love the project while you're making it, but once it is done you do like it.  Product crafters will craft for other people, whether it is for the purpose of gifting or selling.

I have tried very hard to decide which type of crafter I am.  I really do enjoy the process of most crafts.  I love knitting and sewing, and I'm happy to do either of those all day.  Scrapbooking is another story.  I love the finished scrapbooks, but I am not really good with colors and patterns, so I don't enjoy trying to figure out what should go where.  I got a scrapbook for my wedding from a cousin who makes them for a living, and it is beautiful.  When it got to us, all that we had to do was choose pictures and insert them into the book.  I chose the pictures and had them printed, and there the scrapbook and pictures sat, for a year and a half.  Finally, a friend of mine was visiting and decided to do it for me, since I clearly was never going to do it.  The finished product looks great now, but the process was not very exciting for me.

There also seems to come a point for me in most projects that I stop enjoying the process and am just waiting for the product.  I tend to go pretty wild in choosing really large projects, like queen sized quilts, six foot long cable scarves, and the like.  I can temper this disenchantment by keeping smaller, simpler projects going on the side, which messes with my deadline but keeps me from tossing the larger projects altogether.  I also have this obsession with making lists of projects that I am either working on currently or have promised to people, and I love to cross things off that list, which appeals to the product crafter side of me.  My husband also tells me that if I were truly a process crafter, I would knit a huge piece of fabric and then rip it all out, and just be happy because I was able to knit for a while.  I'm not that in love with the process.

What kind of crafter are you?  Do you appreciate the time spent working on the project, or do you relish the finished product?  Or, are you a little of both?  I would love to hear your points of view on this subject!