A couple of weeks ago I wrote a blog post about trying something new. You can see that. HERE.
Well… A couple of weeks later I can tell you that I am still trying! And trying is about as good as it gets right now.
The day of that first post, I started it and then ripped apart my work, at least five or six times. Luckily… On that day… I had a long conversation with a friend of mine who helped me to ease my frustration levels. She told me that, when she started crocheting, she ripped everything apart multiple times. She very wisely reminded me that this process is asking a lot of myself. She said… “You are asking your hands and your eyes and your brain to all work together in a way that they have never worked before. You’re going to make mistakes and you’re going to rip it apart over and over. And that’s OK. It’s part of the learning process.” .… I can’t tell you how much that helped me!
Then, another friend of mine, who crochets like the wind, helped me to find a couple of more beginner videos on YouTube. That helped also. So I just decided to start… I had no plan, no pattern… I just wanted to practice. I thought that maybe it would turn into a scarf or a lap blanket… I had no idea. I just needed to start and keep going. So I did!
And it’s kind of ugly… But I’m proud of it. I was going to rip it apart, but then my husband suggested that I just finish it and we could use it as a cat bed. So that’s what I did. The mistakes are pretty obvious. But just doing it taught me a lot. I figured out some things that I was doing wrong. And now I’m starting a scarf and I’m hoping that I can fix some of those issues… Fingers crossed anyway!
What I’m trying to do is to be gentle with myself. I can be so judgmental! Sometimes my head says… “The video says that this can be done in an hour. You’re taking days! You’re never gonna be good at this!”… I have a very vocal inner critic. Many times that inner critic has just shut me down. Not this time. I’m going to keep moving forward to see if I can get good at this… Or at least marginal… I want a hobby!
So I’m giving myself permission to be really bad at this… Frustratingly, mind numbingly bad at this! And I’m trying to prepare myself for the possibility that I could be bad at this for quite a while. I’m trying to give myself the space to let that be OK!
Self judgment, in my opinion, is the biggest killer of creativity that there is. Always worrying about not being good enough is exhausting and self defeating. I’m trying to do better this time around. Whatever I’m doing with this project is absolutely good enough. Wish me luck! I’ll keep posting about this periodically to show progress… Or the lack there of…
So… Do you want to join me in being less self critical? Maybe a bunch of us could make a pact to support each other in being nicer to ourselves in the new year? What do you say… Care to join me?
I’m glad you’re here 💜
With Angels and Elephants 
I don’t know if I have the patience to crochet, I have often thought of taking it up cause it seems fun and like it would be great to make things but I just don’t know. I do however color, and I have asked people how I have the patience to do that, especially some of the more elaborate pictures, its just calming to me. Continue on, as you said you learn from the mistakes and can make them better next time. And props to the hubs for the push to keep you going, I’m sure the kitty will love it.
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Thanks! This is finger crocheting….no hooks, just your hands. I have a coordination impairment so a lot of stuff is impossible for me. But this I can do….not well, but maybe some day!!!
If coloring brings you joy then color on my friend! It’s all about the joy!!!
💜🙏💜
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Your beginner work is amazing! Stay with it; it really does get easier. As for finding a way to be less critical of oneself, count me in. I never meet up to my own expectations. At the same time, I’m not a quitter and have lived a lot of my life exercising sheer guts and determination! Yep, I’m stubborn!
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Yes!!! Thankfully, stubborn wins out over self criticism for me as well! Thank God for stubborn streaks!
Thanks for the encouragement… I’ve never really had a craft hobby. So this is all very new to me. But, even though it’s new, I can see mistakes, but I’m not even sure how I made them. That’s frustrating. But I’m thinking that I should be able to figure it out with time.… As an example, I started a scarf yesterday. I’m trying to do all of my loops, the same, but the body is noticeably wider than the end… Don’t know why this happened again… But I’ll figure it out!
Thanks again for the support! I appreciate it!
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That looks pretty good. As a crocheter myself, I can’t tell you how many times I had to take apart my work and start over but like almost everything, practice makes perfect.
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Thank you! It’s finger crocheting and much easier for someone with coordination issues. But I still don’t understand why the body of it gets significantly bigger than the bottom of it… Beginners issues! Thanks for reading.💜🙏💜
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I don’t understand why the bottom is always bigger than the top. I had to fix it for my last project by weaving a piece of yarn with a yarn needle to make the bottom stitches slightly tighter. I do think it’s a beginner issue.
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Thank you 🙏
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I have always wanted to learn to crochet. I don’t have anyone to teach me, and I’m not committed enough to try and learn through videos. Good for you, you’re doing it and that’s a big deal. Can’t wait to see the scarf you make.
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Hey… This video is really short. Watch it and see what you think. I’m pretty sure that it would be a piece of cake for anyone who didn’t have coordination issues like me. When I finish the scarf, I will do a post number three so that you can see it… So far it’s not bad. But it does look like me and her work.
Thanks for visiting.
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Thanks, Dinah. I will check it out, it is such a fun scarf.
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I just finished one this morning and it looks OK. I intend to write about it for my coffee chat post. So, tomorrow, click on that, and you’ll see pictures. I think I might actually love this!💜
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