Is it just me or does it get harder for us more “mature” people to learn new things… especially when it comes to technology?
I always tell my students “You have to have the patience to be BAD at this before you can get good.”
Still, I wonder how many people get discouraged when they try to learn something new, like knitting or crochet, spinning or weaving. Sometimes it’s not understanding a pattern or the charts it contains.
I’ve been trying to learn how to make engaging Reels on Instagram. I thought I was pretty good at technology. It all seems so overwhelming.
Then my son comes over and I ask him how to do something. He just keeps taking my phone to do it himself because I’m too slow. Kid! Do you really think that’s going to help me learn?
All this reminds me of how it must feel to “pick up knitting” for the first time; it reminds me what it feels like to be a beginner.
So, when I went to Iceland with my sister and my son in September/October 2024, I naturally planned a visit to the Alafoss Wool Store in Reidjevik. I had already chosen a sweater I wanted to knit for myself. Then my son wanted a sweater. Then my sister wanted a sweater. So I set a goal to knit my son’s sweater while travelling the Ring Road around Iceland. My son and sister did the driving – that’s usually the deal if you’re in a car with me going anywhere for me to have enough time to knit.
I almost never drive when I’m heading somewhere with someone else.
Before our trip, my son and I chose a nice pattern. It was short sleeved so would need to be adapted. It was also knit from the bottom up, as Icelandic sweaters are traditionally knit. BUT, because I wanted him to be able to try it on as I knit, I decided to work it from the top down.
When I searched for videos on how to do this, I didn’t find any no matter what I queried.
So here I was, in the back seat of the SUV knitting away at the collar of the sweater, thinking cockily “I got this”. Then came the colorwork chart. My brain just COULD NOT work out the increases if I worked the chart upside down. I worked a dozen rows, inserting the increases where I thought they went. It was absolutely not working. So I ripped out the colorwork I had done and started over and tried something different. Eventually, I figured it out and the sweater turned out great.
Here’s the Reel I made for Instagram with my progress.
Here’s the unblocked sweater in all its glory! I literally bound off at the airport. I woke in all my ends as the flight was taking off. Talk about last minute!
It’s at this time that it came to me: Why can’t I record a video tutorial for YouTube on how to modify a traditional Icelandic sweater pattern to be knit top down? So I did.
Do you ever wish you could swear off social media forever? Do you sometimes wish you could go back to when we were kids (I’m 48) and times were simple? I know the Internet has a zillion benefits to it but sometimes… Uggggggggg!
I’ve been so preoccupied with trying to get back into a Facebook “page” (I think) that I managed to lock myself out of, that I did NOTHING creative for DAYS! Tragic, I know!!! I was so frustrated and so down on myself for not just walking away and doing something I actually love. I just really wanted to get the issue resolved.
I finally did. I think it must have taken me pretty much three whole days! But I ended up having to start over with a new “page” and corresponding IG account. But I got there in the end.
So I’ve been knitting on the Icelandic sweater like MAD the last two days. I want to get this thing finished by the weekend so I can weave in all the ends, block it and ship it off early next week so my friends can have their pretty sweaters by next weekend.
GOALS!
Have a great rest of your week. Also, feel free to share your frustrating social media stories in the comments.
I tried Canva and made a cute thumbnail. What do you think? My son asked me if I was wearing make-up. When I asked why he would think that, he said “because you look good”. Hahahaha. As if he was surprised.
Anyway, I talked about how my “word of the year” is CREATIVITY. I never make New Year resolutions because I strongly believe that we can choose to be better versions of ourselves any time we want.
As mentioned in my last couple of poopy posts, 2022 and 2023 were rough. 2024 was for recovery. But towards the end of last year, I started feeling the bubbling of inspiration – the overwhelming urge to MAKE and CREATE. That’s how my word was born.
Over the years, all my creativity was funnelled in to knitting and fibre-related art forms, but I was really feeling an urge to write and draw and try new things (like embroidery). It’s been like extra energy stored up in my core that is dying to escape. If I could actually draw you a picture of how that feels, it would look like this: A girl is standing with her arms wide open. Her hair is crazy. Flowers, rainbows, butterflies and stars are exploding from her gut. 🙂
My overwhelming urge to create propelled me in to finally writing out a knitting pattern I had in my brain’s “filing cabinet” for years… and the Horeez Hat was born.
Last week, I purchased some basic embroidery supplies and actually scheduled time during my upcoming days off to try it out. I’ve been watching YouTube videos on all the stitches. There are so many. Who knew? Not me.
This year, I’ve also decided to say “yes” to more things that scare me or make me nervous – or things I’m afraid I won’t be good at. How else do we grow?
On Tuesday, I was chatting with my girlfriend. We hadn’t seen each other in a while. When I told her I was free and could get together that night, she told me she had boxing but that she was thinking of skipping so we could get together. My solution? To go to boxing with her.
So I tried something new! I was afraid it would be hard, that I wouldn’t be able to keep up or that I would be really bad at it. It turned out to be a blast and I am seriously considering getting a membership to the club.
What other new thing should I try?
What new things have you tried or do you WANT to try? Tell me about it in the comments.
