I'm a non-risk taker by nature. I'm not a fan of failing so I tend to be slow to try things. And I often overthink things, meaning that more often than not I won't even try things because I'll decide that they are too difficult before I even start. It's a flaw that I keep working to overcome. My hobbies are no exception. I'm slowly learning a lesson about knitting. For years I've been overcautious in my knitting. I work on projects where I know most of what I'm doing. I like projects that are mostly mindless knitting. I've learned a lot over the years but I tend to stay mostly within my comfort zone.
In October I taught a friend how to knit. He was visiting and had been interested in trying so on the day before he left, I taught him the basic knit stitch. He went home and worked on his first scarf. Then he got bored and knit a little hat for his niece. Then some mittens. Then a belt. Then a cowl. Then...you get the idea. He taught himself how to bind off, how to purl, how to yarn over. In six months he's tried techniques that I hadn't tried within the the first three years of knitting. I'm a bit in awe of how willing he is to take risks and how good of a knitter he's become.
And I'm learning that nothing in knitting is as hard as I make it out to be. I learned how to make tiny fingers for a sackboy doll I made. I learned how to pick up stitches for mittens. I learned that I can read some pretty scary looking patterns. And this week I learned my holy grail of knitting, cabling. I had been terrified to cable for years. I just didn't think I would understand it so I didn't try it. This week I started this cowl which happens to have some cabling. It took me a bit of coaxing from Jeff but now I can say I know how to cable. And it's way easier than I thought it would be. Everything in knitting is easier than it sounds. That's my lesson. It may take me a few times to get things, but everything is learnable. It's a good lesson for knitting...and really for life. Everything is learnable.
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3 comments:
What a nice post, and a good moral to the story :-)
Many of us avoid trying things because we are afraid to fail. But you're right, everything really IS learnable, at least to some extent.
I find that if I can get the nerve to just start doing something, the anxiety of the event (which is usually larger than the event itself) eases away and then all of a sudden YOU'RE DOING SOMETHNG NEW! :-)
The nice thing about mistakes in knitting is that they either give the piece "character" or you can rip 'em out and try again!
Bleufleur,
You are so right. It's the starting that's the hardest part (and the part I normally talk myself out of). But once you start you move from anxious to doing, and that makes all the difference.
Josh, As you know I'm much more a fan of "character". It's how you can tell something is handmade. Of course I say that mostly because I'm not as comfortable ripping back, but that's just another thing I need to learn.
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