So I was sitting at my desk with my lovely friend Jenn last week - working on some work work as opposed to craft work - and we got a little side tracked with some yarn, as you do. We were talking about how I had just finished the fella's Hugo, and how her fella thought it was a good-looking sweater. She told me that she then had to start saying things to him like "whoa now fella, don't get ahead of yourself. I'm not at that level yet".
My responseto her - "Piffle! You could totally make that!" because she totally could. After she got through a few statements of disbelief she said, "I do love it when you say that. It makes me think I could". She says that it fills her with confidence to know I have such confidence in her. And I do. I think she is totally capable.
And because I'd just got through telling her, it reminded me that I should remind you lot that "you can totally make X"..... You are capable if you simply remember that it's mainly about what you believe.
I believe that knitting is little more than knits and purls with the odd fancy skill thrown in. I believe that as she has been knitting for a couple of years, and Brooklyn Tweed patterns are really well written, that this is something she could tackle. I believe that she has the guts, and the experience now, to get it done. It might take her a while, but there is nothing stopping her, but self-belief, and emotional confidence.
There are various times in your craft career, when you have good confidence and some general oomph, that you should take a step up. Not when you are still a fragile newbie finding your feet, but when you have enough successes under your belt, you can take on the idea of something more emotionally challenging. Because the tricky bit about it isn't the knitting/sewing. It is the emotional rigmarole that you have to go through to make something more complicated.
You need to be able to work through the emotions that come up during a challenging project. I've written about this a few times :) but just in case you are a new reader then here are a few examples we have covered in the past;
Mistakes are how you learn.
Planning can only take you so far.
Getting stuck in the middle.
Perfection in imperfection.
Ripping with joy.
Because making really is an emotional game. It isn't a skills game. Making is about dealing with your head stuff as it comes up. As the wonderful Elizabeth Zimmermann reminded us many times with her wit and ongoing encouragement,
“Really all you need to become a good knitter are wool, needles, hands and slightly below-average intelligence. Of course superior intelligence, such as yours and mine, is an advantage.” ”
You can make it! Just get stuck in, accept the detours it takes, and keep at it.
Do you think this is true? That it is mainly an emotions game rather than a skills game?
Felicia x
