Knitting doesn't need courage, but it does take balls
Recently I shared an image of me wearing a sweater I’d recently knitted. It was the obligatory, slightly awkward selfie taken by a 50 year old woman. Trying to concentrate, smile and press the phone shutter all at once - it’s a lot to process.
Anyway, I posted it as I was really pleased with the sweater I’d made and I knew that people would be interested in the final result - I may have moaned about it slightly (read: a lot) while I was knitting it, due to a few sizing issues and the fact that I had left it neglected for far too long in my WIP pile.
I had a few comments about the yarns I had chosen, and others either complimented it or shared their own thoughts about the versions they had knit.
One response really struck a chord with me though. From someone who said she wished she had the courage to knit a sweater. And wow, that really got me thinking. My initial thought was of sadness, that someone was potentially denying themselves so much pleasure and satisfaction by not allowing themselves to even contemplate knitting a sweater.
I can think of many reasons why someone might choose not to knit a sweater - the investment in time and money alone can be enough to make you think twice. You need to have faith in your abilities to follow a pattern, select appropriate materials and have the staying power needed to complete a sizeable project. Unless you are knitting in super bulky yarn we aren’t talking about a ‘knit a project in a weekend’ here.
You need to be able to trust in the process to a certain extent, and know that during the lifespan of the project you will undoubtedly go through a number of different emotions and feelings, ranging from excitement to boredom.
Faith, hope, trust, confidence, optimism - all are qualities that I think would probably stand you in good stead when it comes to sweater knitting. All are admirable qualities but I would never list courage as one that is needed.
You need to be able to hold your nerve when things look a bit hairy, and you need a fair chunk of motivation too - gumption as my Nana would have said.
But courage isn’t one of the attributes I’d list.
I think of lots of things as requiring courage - standing up to bullies, fighting for what you believe in, doing something goes against the flow, but picking up needles and needles? Not really.
At the end of the day and unlike certain creative endeavours (sewing - I’m looking at you here), if it all goes pear-shaped you can just pull it back. Rewind the yarn and you are back where you started - with needles and yarn.
I can’t say the same for sewing - and more than once I have ruined a perfectly good piece of fabric by the wrong cut in the wrong place. An expensive mistake and a lesson learned. Sewing and I will never be friends.
But knitting? Knitting is possibly one of the most forgiving creative pursuits I can think of. Patterns exist to suit all abilities including the newest of new knitters and for those that are really cautious I always recommend they start small with a baby sweater, rather than diving straight into an adult one. That way they can practice all the skills needed without the commitment of a large project.
For knitters who don’t know where to start I always recommend TinCan Knits patterns - as they are sized from babies through to large adult and they have a range of free patterns designed specifically to nurture the newer knitter.
If you are of a similarly nervous disposition, or you know someone who is do please give it a go. Baby sweaters are ridiculously cute and knit up really quick - and even if you don’t have any babies to knit for right now you can always squirrel it away for an emergency gift, or donate it to charity.
Forget about courage, just grab your balls and have a little faith.
One of the sad things about adulthood is that we become afraid to fail. When you stack that on top of people telling you something is difficult, it can become an insurmountable obstacle. I had the good fortune to start knitting sweaters when I was young, and no one was around to tell me I was biting off more than they thought I could chew.
But, of course, knitting a sweater doesn't have to be difficult, and if you do fail, so what? The stakes are low (unlike, for example, raising children, where failure really is a bad thing), and you've surely wasted money on lesser goals.
Love all of your gentle support for new knitters and crafters. We all come to our skills from different levels and backgrounds. I have known knitting instructors who were wonderful knitters but absolutely scary in their demands for perfection and no variations or compromises. I have known knitters who were so relaxed while knitting that their knitting needles sometimes slid out of their knitting and clattered to the floor! Now that is a loose knitter! Then there was the older lady who only knit one sweater pattern her whole life! It was a simple v-neck sweater that she made many, many of. She seemed reasonably intelligent and happily married and loved to brows the yarn in the yarn shop, but she was never interested in trying something new. This gave me a lot to ponder whenever she was leaving the store.
And finally, there was a good friend who asked me to teacher her to crochet. She made a plain potholder after a few false starts...turning with its waiting dangers of where to put the needle needed to be ironed out. But she got the hang of it and later that week came home with boxes and boxes of yarn to make a king size bedspread made of squares with a rose bud design! I paled at what I knew was not going to work out. But little did I know the tenacity of my friend. It took her several years, but she did complete that bedspread and quite nicely, too!