I was watching a crafts program and the woman was saying that a big hindrance for a lot of people is that they get so hung up on trying to make things perfectly that they wind up either not enjoying it or simply never finish at all.
She said that perfection is highly overrated. It's a hobby and one should enjoy it, not stress over making it perfect. I have to agree with her completely.
I remember when I first started knitting. As I tend to be something of a perfectionist by nature I experienced a great deal of stress trying to learn and trying to make it perfect. A guy on MWK (thanks MMario) told me that knitting is supposed to relieve stress, not cause it.
I gave that a great deal of thought and realized that he was exactly right. I stopped stressing over trying to make it perfect, and just started making it. My knitting improved very quickly after that and I actually enjoyed the process of creating something, even if imperfect, with my own two hands.
Perfection is highly overrated and can actually get in the way of enjoying our knitting.
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6 comments:
Oh god yes - that is so true! I'm a former Perfectionist in recovery. Now I joke that I've given up on being "perfect" and decided to settle for "damn good".
LOL, I think damn good is damn good enough
Hi Mason ... just found your blog after seeing several very helpful comments from you at Knitting Help discussion groups. Because I'm pretty new to knitting after a number of years crocheting, I figure that the times I frog as I learn to "perfect" my skill are times of lessons learned. Maybe I'm the opposite of a lot of people but I stress when I know that even when piece looks great, there is a mistake, even if it's not that big a deal. On the other hand there is a saying in my profession when things aren't going as planned ... "dim the lights and speed up the music".
Glad you've found some of my comments helpful.
Don't stress over small mistakes, they are what makes a hand knit item unique and special. Just enjoy the process as well as the learning.
I am working on the perfectionist thing. I like everything to be exactly right, but I am trying every day! One of these days, I'll make a huge mistake in something and just let it go. At least, I think I will. :)
Yeah it's surprising how hard that can be.
I fix the major mistakes but don't sweat the small ones if I miss them at the time.
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