Knitting Hell!

I've decided to add a new word to my cussing vocabulary - to be used in place of the very overused and infamous "F" word; it's "knit"

Back in September, if you remember from this post, I was gleefully proposing projects to tackle from a Phildar magazine and not being much of a knitter I decided to ease myself back into the game with this made-in-one-piece cardi. I say, ease myself back in - what I actually meant was throw myself in at the deep end, as the pattern is in French and I have not followed one in English for some 20 odd years!

A long road trip back to England at Christmas seemed the perfect opportunity to get started and I had the expert guidance of JW's mum to make sure my cast on row was done correctly - I'd like to point out at this point that I had already completed several inches of said project only to discover that I had been working on the old English needle size 7 and not the metric 7cm... big difference and big problem!

So here I am 3 months later just completing the first armhole shape - in this time I have unexpectedly learned how to pick up stitches that fall off the needle when in your bag, how to leave stitches to one side on a giant safety pin in the hopes they'll still be there when you need them again, how to increase and decrease, how to find out where you are in the pattern when you pick it back up again after several weeks & forgot to mark your place, how to continue with a pattern even though you somehow seem to be working it in the reverse to the image supplied and how to amuse your fellow sewing/yarn buddies with your haphazard, not-growing-very-quickly knitting project!

So why am I sharing this? Partly because I'm embracing all my imperfections and partly because I'd like to tell all my crochet and sewing students that I totally know what it feels like to be a novice at a skill everybody else makes look easy! I'm normally considered an expert when it comes to anything yarn related, afterall, I'm the one with the Textile Design degree and the one who teaches workshops and designs sewing and crochet patterns, but when it comes to knitting, it seems I am sat at the back of the class wearing a pointy yellow hat, emblazoned with a capitol D. I find that funny!

Sometimes it's important to accept that there are some things in life that you simply are a bit rubbish at and that you need to ask for help with, from someone who is more expert at it than you are. There's no need to beat yourself up about it and there's no need to feel like a failure. Enjoy the process, and with a little time and perseverance, chances are you'll get better at it until one day you'll find you have someone asking you for advice because they see you as more expert than they are

Crochet is definitely my thing, it's what I'm best at and can teach it till the cows come home - knitting is for fun and something I look forward to improving on over time. If this cardi is wearable when I eventually finish it, I will be a happy lady! My sense of achievement will be huge! I'll keep you posted!

Wish me bonne chance!

Lisa x

p.s in case you are wondering about the other projects I proposed in September's post from the above Phildar magazine, the Alpaca crochet lace effect waistcoat was started on the train journey to Paris but I decided it looked a bit like string so need to find an alternative yarn to use. The gorgeous, textured, wave crochet cardi is yet to be started!

{photos 1 and 3 by Lisa Pocklington for Get Smitten using Instagram, photos 2 and 4 taken from issue 50 of Phildar magazine}

Embracing Imperfection

We are led to believe that perfection is something to strive for, that things - including ourselves often - are not good enough unless they are perfect. I happen to disagree. I've learnt in the last few years that perfection - and the immense pressure it puts us under - is a surefire way to make us feel as though we are underachieving and will, in many cases, prevent us from either enjoying or even completing a task or project.

The high expectations of perfection loom over us in our subconscious mind, whispering doubts of whether our work is good enough to show to someone, exhibit or sell. It holds us back, diminishes our confidence and sabotages our progress. It makes us scared to take the leap of faith required to put ourselves out there in front of the people we want to be seen by. It also removes the fun, the freedom of expression and the joy of the creative process

I recently completed a blanket I had been working on in my spare time whilst watching mindless dvd box-sets - the plan was to use up oddments of yarn left over from various design projects and have something to snuggle under in the long winter months. I took great pleasure in selecting the colours and textures and enjoyed the process of making each and every square. Now, being me, I have a tendency to use haphazard yarn, many were of differing thicknesses and required switching crochet hook sizes in order to obtain the required square dimension. When I came to join the squares up, inevitably some of them needed a little convincing (in a tweaking or stretching kind of way) and in one section I needed to add an entire row of tiny squares to fill a gap. I also noticed that some of the squares had a 3 treble first round while others had a four, which also made it a little tricky to join up 'perfectly'.

At this point I did consider re-doing some of the squares so that they were all with the same amount of stitches and that's when it hit me;  

why would I need to do that? 

Why would I need to make a chore out of this project? Who is going to even notice that some squares have 3 and others have 4 stitches? The Perfection Police are not going to break down my door and arrest me for having made a slightly wonky blanket. I loved the process of making that blanket and I adore the finished result with all its quirks and imperfections. It is unique and it has character. And it is just as gorgeous and toasty warm as it would have been had I concentrated more on it than on watching multiple series' of House! But most of all, I have the sense of achievement that comes hand in hand with completing a project and now I am eager and fired up to begin a new one

Striving for absolute perfection and beating ourselves up when we don't achieve it can seriously put the breaks on our creativity. We loose momentum, motivation and the act of completion. We shelve ideas because we haven't quite got everything we need yet, we hide products from our clients because they are not quite right yet, we push projects to the back of the cupboard never to be finished because we did a few bits wrong and need to un-do or re-do them.

I'm all for doing my best in any given situation on a project and yes, there are times when I will re-do something as it requires greater concentration or accuracy, but gone are the days when I berate myself for not being perfect. I wonder if perfection even really exists?

"imperfect action is better than no action"

Christine Kane

Instead, I celebrate the beauty and uniqueness of imperfection - just like the ancient Japanese wabi sabi masters. I do my genuine best and it is good enough. I enjoy the process of creating and don't mind the odd wonky or uneven stitch... I see it as a charming trait of something handmade by a real person and not a homogeneous, mass produced factory item. I run with the ideas I have and shine my light in the world, rather than waiting until it is 'perfect' before taking action; if a pattern I publish needs tweaking, so be it; if a workshop I organise is not perfect, I make relevant changes to improve it for next time - after all it is much easier to change direction a little once you are in motion, don't you agree?

I intend to investigate the whole wabi sabi concept further - it makes total sense that this theory can influence and release the self sabotage we subject ourselves to in our personal lives too. Imagine the grace and peace that could be achieved when we embrace acceptance and gratitude. I look forward to embarking on that path!

So go ahead, create, express, shine and continue to be imperfectly perfect

Lisa x

{Wonderful Life print by Hairbrained Schemes, blanket photos by Lisa Pocklington for Get Smitten} 

p.s - to explore the potential of your creative business & overcome those imperfection hang-ups that hold you back, sign up for Tara Gentile's Making Motion e-book it's only $8 and worth a whole lot more! (..yes, I am part of her affiliate program but also a huge fan & regular customer!)