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.
Oh so true. And yes, knitting has to be one of the lowest stakes activities you can invest in. There's really very little to lose and everything to gain.
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!
Second: I feel the same about sewing. Me and The Machine have a hate-love-ignore thing going on, and, in my case, crochet is so forgiving, portable, joyful.
Finally, I also have been postponing crocheting a sweater or some gament (or not postponing, but slowly getting ready for it), but I agree it's not a matter of courage. That's something a craft like crochet (as with knitting, I guess) is it teaches you to be adventurous and to not be afraid of trying and failing. What's the worst that can happen? Some frogging, some time (or a lot) invested, and you always learn something to give it another go.
In mycase, I haven't started *the* sweater/garment project yet because a) it takes a lot of time, and I want to put the time I have into other projects; b) it takes a lot of yarn, and I can't do the investment on it at the moment; and c) I have to decide what project to make, which is a challenge because I want to make it myself and have too many ideas. I know there will be a lot of experimentation and decisions during the process, so it will stay in the backburner for now, but I'm excited to jump on it when the time comes.
Sounds like you have great plans in place, we certainly can learn a lot from our crafting - I always think a lot of life lessons are equally appropriate for yarn crafts.
I remember my first sweater so clearly. I had been knitting scarves and capes for my stuffed animals since I was 8 but I didn’t know how to purl. I discovered my freshman year in college that people knit. So my next door neighbor in the dorm taught me how to purl and then took me off to the yarn store to buy the yarn for my first sweater. I ripped it out so many times because the tension was tight but I did eventually finish and I never looked back. A dear friend later taught me how to hold the yarn for uniform tension. I too feel like I can knit anything and that yarn is the most forgiving of craft supplies. (I also work with metal - talk about unforgiving and expensive).
May I quote you! The title and the closing sentence made me smile! And I love your comparisons to sewing. I hadn’t considered each of those crafts in quite this way, but you’re so right. I enjoy your posts tremendously. You brighten my days. Thank you!
I get the need for courage. It’s the fear of being bad at knitting a sweater, of dropping a stitch, getting the pattern wrong, it not working out like it’s supposed to - all the perfectionism fear that tells us if we DO make a mistake and have to unravel to start again we failed. And when you think like that it feels risky to even try, and that’s where we require courage to pick up the needles and have a go in spite of the fear.
I’ve only recently gone back to sweater knitting. I never could get gauge--I’m a loose knitter and have to go down 2 needle sizes on some knits. I made some lovely knits for people I loved but never saw them wear them and never got any comments. So I gave up and knitted exclusively socks.
But with those socks, I’ve learned how to unpick, how to rip back, how to drop down and grab dropped stitches. I still have a hard time getting gauge, but I’ve learned I can take my gauge, do some calculations, and knit a size that works with my gauge.
I also have knit worthy people in my life and that I can knit garments for me! Sigh. Why do these things take me so long to learn?
Your title made me laugh out loud! Sweater knitting can be daunting and I can understand the person's desire to have the courage to knit a sweater. To me the flip side of this is fear of failure and the unknown. Many of us crave certainity and when we tackle something brand new there is no certainty and it's uncomfortable. Pushing through the discomfort with kindness towards yourself when things inevitably go wrong, affirms your faith and perseverance is so rewarding. Making mistakes is not failure, it's part of gaining confidence. Your suggestions are so helpful Louise. And I resonate with the comments shared.
Oh my goodness, that's such a great way to look at it. Fear of failure is so powerful isn't it and I guess we all have a different relationship with it, and at different times in our lives. I know sometimes I crave simple sock knitting as I just can't face anything more complicated or anything that I can't be certain will work out. Other times, I'm feeling more robust and don't mind so much. Thanks for this perspective, I love these thought provoking Substack conversations.
I find this so sad. But also understandable. I’ve been knitting garments since I was 14. Firstly for my then toddler sister, and then a slipover for myself. Easy choices, but then I was young and full of the confidence and zeal of youth. And I just carried on! As we get older our confidence in our abilities declines doesn’t it. Yarn shops used to ‘put by’ yarn for customers so you could buy a garment quantity in stages, but that doesn’t seem to happen any more.
I made a goal to make a sweater in the year 2022 (or was it 2021?) I told myself I would give myself an entire year. January to find a sweater pattern for a beginner, February to gather the supplies. March to read or watch the pattern... and so on. I knew I had to break it down, because it felt so overwhelming. Well, I had that sweater done in February! I have never been so proud. :)
Oh wow, that’s so impressive. I do really like the idea of a project like that being broken down by month though. It makes it seem a lot more achievable.
"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."
So true but still so hard. I started the Travelers Cardigan and have begun to left side neck shaping and starting button band. Unfortunately I didn't mark my increases and my notes were confusing. I forgot an increase. I made one as soon as I noticed instead of ripping back. And kept knitting. I didn't do the hard, annoying thing. So I knit more rows and then compared both sides. I know I need to rip back so I like final product. I don't want to put in all this work and then hate it. So now it's in time out. I'm paralyzed. I'm still a novice knitter. I dont have a lifeline. Because that feels like a lot of work too. I want to knit garments but I also just want to knit and not do the extra stuff. That's my problem. And every time I've ripped back, it's only created more problems.... So there's a risk here I have to take
I hear you though and ive thought about it too: worst case scenario, I rip it all out and simply start over. At least I will better understand what I'm doing and what's needed. I'm also thinking of starting over with new ball and ripping it out later... Kind of playing with my mind.
I don't know. I think for some people who are afraid of mistakes. The perfectionist types, the process of ripping and knitting again or moving forward with minor mistakes can be a courageous one. Healing even. As we do in minute form what we also struggle to do in the more high stake situations. It's training is mentally do what it takes to get the outcome we desire.
I've only knit one sweater. Finished it back in October I think. I'm waiting on yarn to knit my best friend a baby sweater for her first baby, due in April. ❤️ Can't wait!
I'm a lifelong knitter and can't imagine a day without knitting. That doesn't mean I'm good at it, just that I love it. but to think it's forgiving put's a new spin on it. Thank you for that.
So very true. I have concentrated on baby things, slippers, hats and scarves because I like quick rewards and they are lovely gifts or donations to charity. My own garment knitting has been so-so but I have saved a cardigan with too-long sleeves because I finally got it finished and want to memorialize persistence. I love, love the forgiving nature of yarn craft and also love untangling a yarn barf or many small balls which have been tossed in a bin for later use ( my bad!). A yarn tangle is to me what 1000 piece puzzles are to others.
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.
Oh so true. And yes, knitting has to be one of the lowest stakes activities you can invest in. There's really very little to lose and everything to gain.
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!
What fantastic stories, I love how you have described everyone there. It just shows how we are all so very different doesn't it.
First: love the title and the pun! 😄
Second: I feel the same about sewing. Me and The Machine have a hate-love-ignore thing going on, and, in my case, crochet is so forgiving, portable, joyful.
Finally, I also have been postponing crocheting a sweater or some gament (or not postponing, but slowly getting ready for it), but I agree it's not a matter of courage. That's something a craft like crochet (as with knitting, I guess) is it teaches you to be adventurous and to not be afraid of trying and failing. What's the worst that can happen? Some frogging, some time (or a lot) invested, and you always learn something to give it another go.
In mycase, I haven't started *the* sweater/garment project yet because a) it takes a lot of time, and I want to put the time I have into other projects; b) it takes a lot of yarn, and I can't do the investment on it at the moment; and c) I have to decide what project to make, which is a challenge because I want to make it myself and have too many ideas. I know there will be a lot of experimentation and decisions during the process, so it will stay in the backburner for now, but I'm excited to jump on it when the time comes.
Sounds like you have great plans in place, we certainly can learn a lot from our crafting - I always think a lot of life lessons are equally appropriate for yarn crafts.
Well... The thing with plans is they rarely turn out how we imagined, but I'm up for it. And totally agree with you on the craft/life lessons. ❤
I remember my first sweater so clearly. I had been knitting scarves and capes for my stuffed animals since I was 8 but I didn’t know how to purl. I discovered my freshman year in college that people knit. So my next door neighbor in the dorm taught me how to purl and then took me off to the yarn store to buy the yarn for my first sweater. I ripped it out so many times because the tension was tight but I did eventually finish and I never looked back. A dear friend later taught me how to hold the yarn for uniform tension. I too feel like I can knit anything and that yarn is the most forgiving of craft supplies. (I also work with metal - talk about unforgiving and expensive).
Oh wow, metalwork sounds like a real challenge. Beautiful, but challenging
Metalwork is challenging but you have to love a discipline that allows you to control fire (at least sometimes). 😁
I think you are describing the best way to learn knitting and to become a true knitter! Bravo!
May I quote you! The title and the closing sentence made me smile! And I love your comparisons to sewing. I hadn’t considered each of those crafts in quite this way, but you’re so right. I enjoy your posts tremendously. You brighten my days. Thank you!
Oh please do, I'm so glad the post made you smile.
I get the need for courage. It’s the fear of being bad at knitting a sweater, of dropping a stitch, getting the pattern wrong, it not working out like it’s supposed to - all the perfectionism fear that tells us if we DO make a mistake and have to unravel to start again we failed. And when you think like that it feels risky to even try, and that’s where we require courage to pick up the needles and have a go in spite of the fear.
Such a good point, thank you. I guess it's easy to forget we all have different perspectives on fear/courage.
I’ve only recently gone back to sweater knitting. I never could get gauge--I’m a loose knitter and have to go down 2 needle sizes on some knits. I made some lovely knits for people I loved but never saw them wear them and never got any comments. So I gave up and knitted exclusively socks.
But with those socks, I’ve learned how to unpick, how to rip back, how to drop down and grab dropped stitches. I still have a hard time getting gauge, but I’ve learned I can take my gauge, do some calculations, and knit a size that works with my gauge.
I also have knit worthy people in my life and that I can knit garments for me! Sigh. Why do these things take me so long to learn?
Your title made me laugh out loud! Sweater knitting can be daunting and I can understand the person's desire to have the courage to knit a sweater. To me the flip side of this is fear of failure and the unknown. Many of us crave certainity and when we tackle something brand new there is no certainty and it's uncomfortable. Pushing through the discomfort with kindness towards yourself when things inevitably go wrong, affirms your faith and perseverance is so rewarding. Making mistakes is not failure, it's part of gaining confidence. Your suggestions are so helpful Louise. And I resonate with the comments shared.
Oh my goodness, that's such a great way to look at it. Fear of failure is so powerful isn't it and I guess we all have a different relationship with it, and at different times in our lives. I know sometimes I crave simple sock knitting as I just can't face anything more complicated or anything that I can't be certain will work out. Other times, I'm feeling more robust and don't mind so much. Thanks for this perspective, I love these thought provoking Substack conversations.
I enjoyed this! As someone who has only just started crocheting (because knitting feels daunting, I can relate). Thanks for the inspiration!🧶💖
Oh, you're welcome. I'm glad it helped
I find this so sad. But also understandable. I’ve been knitting garments since I was 14. Firstly for my then toddler sister, and then a slipover for myself. Easy choices, but then I was young and full of the confidence and zeal of youth. And I just carried on! As we get older our confidence in our abilities declines doesn’t it. Yarn shops used to ‘put by’ yarn for customers so you could buy a garment quantity in stages, but that doesn’t seem to happen any more.
That would be such a benefit wouldn't it, although with today's cost margins I can see why they don't.
I made a goal to make a sweater in the year 2022 (or was it 2021?) I told myself I would give myself an entire year. January to find a sweater pattern for a beginner, February to gather the supplies. March to read or watch the pattern... and so on. I knew I had to break it down, because it felt so overwhelming. Well, I had that sweater done in February! I have never been so proud. :)
Oh wow, that’s so impressive. I do really like the idea of a project like that being broken down by month though. It makes it seem a lot more achievable.
Cant love this enough
I wrote a substack post about an emotional journey while knitting, which you might enjoy: https://open.substack.com/pub/jenniferpiette/p/a-stitch-in-time?r=cyxe6&utm_medium=ios&utm_campaign=post
"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."
So true but still so hard. I started the Travelers Cardigan and have begun to left side neck shaping and starting button band. Unfortunately I didn't mark my increases and my notes were confusing. I forgot an increase. I made one as soon as I noticed instead of ripping back. And kept knitting. I didn't do the hard, annoying thing. So I knit more rows and then compared both sides. I know I need to rip back so I like final product. I don't want to put in all this work and then hate it. So now it's in time out. I'm paralyzed. I'm still a novice knitter. I dont have a lifeline. Because that feels like a lot of work too. I want to knit garments but I also just want to knit and not do the extra stuff. That's my problem. And every time I've ripped back, it's only created more problems.... So there's a risk here I have to take
I hear you though and ive thought about it too: worst case scenario, I rip it all out and simply start over. At least I will better understand what I'm doing and what's needed. I'm also thinking of starting over with new ball and ripping it out later... Kind of playing with my mind.
I don't know. I think for some people who are afraid of mistakes. The perfectionist types, the process of ripping and knitting again or moving forward with minor mistakes can be a courageous one. Healing even. As we do in minute form what we also struggle to do in the more high stake situations. It's training is mentally do what it takes to get the outcome we desire.
So last night I did the thing! I ripped back and I believe I fixed it. So now if I have to sit it aside, I can return to it with confidence.
Hooray. That's fantastic. I'm so pleased for you xx
I've only knit one sweater. Finished it back in October I think. I'm waiting on yarn to knit my best friend a baby sweater for her first baby, due in April. ❤️ Can't wait!
I'm a lifelong knitter and can't imagine a day without knitting. That doesn't mean I'm good at it, just that I love it. but to think it's forgiving put's a new spin on it. Thank you for that.
So very true. I have concentrated on baby things, slippers, hats and scarves because I like quick rewards and they are lovely gifts or donations to charity. My own garment knitting has been so-so but I have saved a cardigan with too-long sleeves because I finally got it finished and want to memorialize persistence. I love, love the forgiving nature of yarn craft and also love untangling a yarn barf or many small balls which have been tossed in a bin for later use ( my bad!). A yarn tangle is to me what 1000 piece puzzles are to others.