Doing it different isn’t necessarily wrong!

Hello everyone. Hopefully this post finds you all managing as well as you can under the current circumstances.

We remain in lockdown here with just a little hope that the vaccines which have emerged will give us some h return to a more normal existence at some point.

The worst of the winter cold and snow is behind us on the West Coast of Scotland. We officially enter spring on 20 March. Driving into Glasgow yesterday I noticed the crocuses were out in force. I always find a bright cheery welcome when they arrive and it gives hope for better weather to come.

Since I last wrote I have been thinking of how things can evolve in life such as my interest in crafts. When I was a young child it seemed to me that every adult female I knew was knitting and some had other strings to their bow such as crocheting or sewing and the like.  They were women who were brought up during WWII or born not long after and who, mostly, did not have television and the like growing up.  Money was tight and they had learned the mend and make do method of life.  Once a crafted item had served its’ purpose it was often unravelled (frogged) and made into something new.

I loved to hear the women chatter and see the needles going fast as lightning clattering away.  One woman in particular was mesmerising in her speed. It appeared to me at the time and even now, as I think back, that she could not have been human in both her skill and speed. The others were fast but this was amazing. I wanted to join the group.  I was attracted to learning a skill but also the social connection they appeared to gain from it.

Generally most people try to fit in with others.  Young people dress in ‘fashionable’ clothing resembling a uniformity of some type, people join groups, wear actual uniforms and follow rituals, norms and values expected of them.  We all in our own way identify with different groups in various aspects of life.

It can be quite a challenge whenever we set out to learn something new. It can be so immediately apparent when something has gone wrong or is different. Being part of the group is not always possible no matter how much we would like to.  I learned to knit and enjoy the creative and social aspect of knitting but, alas, my tension was so tight nobody could teach me. It held me back, at first, from being part of the group, from that sense of belonging and sharing which is so fundamental to our humanity. There was also the fact I was unable to make a knit stitch by placing the needle into the front of the stitch on the needle – it just felt really awkward and more; it felt impossible. For many years I had a sense of not being quite part of the group when someone would say, ‘I don’t understand the way you do this. It looks so awkward to me.’ or ‘I can’t imagine why you are unable to do that the way everyone else does.’  

Luckily I had the skills and resources to cope, to find a way to where I wanted to be. As a disabled person I have spent a life time negotiating situations just to get to a starting point before being able to do anything else. I thought of the situation like a challenge and revelled in the idea of having to work out a solution for myself. Eventually by working on my tension I taught myself to knit but continued to make knit stitches by putting the needle into the back of stitches for many years.  Then one day, well into adulthood, I realised I was knitting as others do and it felt absolutely fine – the change was not intentional, it just happened. Although I still work in my old way at times.

Knitting differently never actually bothered me personally but I did find the comments irksome. As I got older, several people over the years have asked me to show how I managed to get, what they thought was a more attractive outcome. There was reward in my quirkiness.

Crafting is not a matter of life or death that things are done in a particular way.  When starting out you may find some things a little more challenging than others.  In these circumstances I would encourage you to persevere.  If it is something you want to do you will very likely find a way which suits your skill set. Instead it is a challenge to ourselves to examine our skills and knowledge and see where and how they may progress. 

Doing it different isn’t necessarily wrong! It is a sensible response to a challenge set before us. It also provides us with a greater sense of individuality. My garments were no less useful or attractive to look at when I did my stitches in my own way. 

When I first took guitar lessons I used to stop each time I made a mistake and go back to the beginning.  My teacher was confused by this and asked why?  I said I had not got the piece correct so had to keep repeating it until I did.  His response was revolutionary to me.  If you make a mistake keep going, don’t stop half way and go back to the beginning.  Think of the learning and practice you get before you go back to the error with more experience and skill.  Thinking of all the errors I have made while crafting and techniques I have struggled to learn and over time through different projects I gradually improve and so does everyone. The secret is progression and not instant mastery.

The ability to problem solve and negotiate our way round challenges in life are part and parcel of stitching another piece of the cloth of life we are all making.

These lessons were outlined to me, yet again, when I returned to knitting in the last few weeks. I was going great guns and then went into one of those stages you can get where you can’t do right for doing wrong – I bet you know what I mean. Among the things that went awry were knitting an arm far too long as I had got into a happy rhythm and lost track of what I was doing. The second arm was finished only to discover I had initially cast on 55 rather than 45 and had to redo it again. Finally, the pièce de résistance was having to try three times to sew in the hood. Despite all of this, it felt good to have kept with it and completed the project.

It is also useful to bear in mind that doing it differently does not necessarily mean you have to keep hitting your proverbial head against the brick wall. Sometimes it is about recognising that your skills and talent are in a different direction and taking what you have learned so far and find a completely new avenue to explore. This is a skill I have often had to use.

By the way there was another reward in finishing the jacket. I don’t know about anyone else but I absolutely love sewing with the mattress stitch. Intellectually I understand how it works and where the sewing yarn ends up but the child in me is still thrilled to see it disappear as you pull on the end. What satisfaction, a smooth, clean join.

It is an irony that I took up crafting not only to learn a new skill but to benefit from the social aspects it seemed to offer me. However, over the years I have found it has been less of a social element and more a therapeutic and individual occupation of which I demand more in times of difficulty. Finding myself in stressful hospital wards, challenging personal and professional situations or in splendid isolation due to lockdown, crafts have been one of my main ways of getting through it all.

Come, join me!

I’d love to hear from you all about what crafting of any kind has meant to you. What do you get from it and when does it serve you best?

If you would like notification of my future posts please sign-up at the blue button at the right hand side of this blog. I would be delighted to have you join us. We don’t know where we are going but we are enjoying the ride.

Work in Progress

Yesterday I completed my first project in a while; the jacket I referred to above. It was knitted in:

Yarn

Hayfield Spirit

Chunky

100g Balls

155m/169yds

80% Acrylic, 20% Wool

Needles

UK No.3, USA No.10.5 (5.5mm) needles

Buttons:

25mm round

Brown Wood

Varying coloured thread decoration

I hope to have my next project finished soon and will keep you up-to-date.

Until then take care of yourself and be safe.

Kate