Fearlessness

Mining the NaBlogPoMo site for blog fodder worked so well yesterday, let’s try again today. Let’s tweak the prompt for November 14 and look at the question, “Have you faced fears in your knitting and overcome them?”

Honestly… no. I can’t think of any time I’ve been afraid to try something with yarn and needles. Lace doesn’t scare me, obviously. Ditto cables, charts, colorwork – none of it ever gave me pause. Steeks don’t even scare me.

I’m not sure why this is, but I suspect it may have to do in part with being a mostly self-taught knitter. I learned from books. With no other knitters around me, I didn’t pick up others’ fears. I never feared steeks because no-one – in particular, no book – ever implied that I should fear them.

Being a fan of swatching helps too, no doubt. Whenever I’ve been unsure of whether I understood a technique correctly or could execute it to my satisfaction, I’ve worked a swatch. It doesn’t take long. And swatching answers all kinds of questions! Is this yarn really machine-washable? Knit a swatch, throw it in the wash, and see what happens. Is this yarn too slippery for a crocheted steek? Knit a swatch, get out the scissors, and see what happens. Will I enjoy working this lace/cabled/brioche stitch pattern? Knit a swatch, and see what happens.

Have you ever overcome fear in your knitting? Better yet: have you ever sidestepped fear, neatly avoiding it while others stepped right in it? How’d you do it? I’d love to know – I’d love it if we could spread a mentality of fearlessness in the knitting world.

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