Friday 1 July 2016

The Joy of Imperfection

Hi there!

How are you doing these days?

Whenever I can find a free minute, I am crocheting ghosts. I am not sure how many I have made by now but it must be around ten (it feels like more). I need to finish another 3 but after that I am going to take a break from ghosts. As cute as they are, making them gets a bit boring after hooking so many of them! After that I will move onto baby blankets: Several friends of mine are pregnant and due later this year. I haven't decided on a pattern yet but I want to something colourful yet an easy pattern. Nothing too complicated, that is something I can easily hook after long days at work. Any suggestions?




I started writing this blog post some days ago and then stopped because it got me thinking. I was going to write about my clumsy fingers as I have troubles sewing on fiddly pieces onto amigurumi. It was going to be a self shaming post mixed with a bit of humour. As mentioned before, I stopped writing because it didn't feel right. I didn't know why I was feeling like that until I was at my mum's house and came across the first amigurumis I ever made. You can see pictures of them in this posts... They are far from perfect but still my mum kept them on display in the downstairs bathroom. Sometimes I felt ashamed about them but nowadays I don't anymore. 


When I stood in the bathroom, all of a sudden I realized how far I have come and that I really shouldn't engage in self-shaming. I can't do fiddly stuff? Oh well, so what? I will learn. Or I won't. And both is okay. 

All my life I have been a kind of perfectionist. I say a kind of because I am not one of these people who try and try until something is perfect. Instead, I want it to be perfect right from the beginning. As in NOW. That's not a very healthy way of thinking and it has hindered my in my life a lot. Over the last couple of years, I started to change my thinking moving towards a mindset which believes in growing. I am getting better in allowing myself to grow and to give myself time. It is still a long way but one that is worth while. 


Craft helped me a lot on the way. At first I wanted to be perfect but had to realize I had to learn and it would take time. Along with learning this came the realization that the way, that is the way of learning or making something, is what brings most of the fun. Not the finished project but the process of making it. Now quite a few of you will probably roll your eyes because this realization/this knowledge is so obvious. Well it wasn't for me. Some days I still struggle because I am unhappy with how my projects turn out or because I can't master a new stitch right away. But it is getting better. And some day, I hope to allow myself "imperfection" and "failure" without feeling bad about it!




How are you dealing when you can't master something new right away? I am happy about all kinds of advice!

Hope you are having a wonderful crafty weekend!

Take care
Anne

 P.S. As you can see, I worked with bulky yarn at first, so that I could see the stitches... 

P.S. If you are following us on Instagram, you probably saw that I already started on a baby blanket.. This post was written before I caught the summer flu and forgot to post it!

5 comments :

  1. We have people at crochet class who get really frustrated about not being able to get the hang of hooking straight away - I have to remind them that they wouldn't expect to sit down at the piano and play a Rachmaninoff concerto, so why expect to do more than "Twinkle Twinkle Little Star" in crochet on their very first time holding a hook!! With both activities you're training your hands to do something really strange and new :)

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    1. That is so true and a great example to explain it.

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  2. Hi Anne,

    I think you need to give yourself a pat on the shoulder, I certainly have noticed you making very good progress in every new project! :)

    And I think this is how it should be, the more we practice, the more we can grow. I noticed the same thing for me, with my crochet, with learning Dutch etc.

    I love your amigurumis!! :)

    Enjoy your weekend,
    Ingrid xx
    Myfunkycrochet.blogspot.be

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  3. Hi Anne, as adults we are so accomplished at many things, it is easy to forget what it felt like to learn new things. Think back to childhood: first attempts to do anything new were usually clumsy and naive. That's normal and the nature of learning. It doesn't mean that those early works were not as worthy as those more technically proficient; e.g., I'm no expert on art but I'm sure there was an art movement called 'naive style' which is highly valued by collectors.
    While we may feel awkward and frustrated when learning a new skill, remember that most personal growth and learning occurs when we are 'outside our comfort zones.'
    I'm glad you are feeling more kindly towards your earlier work. Enjoy the process! Hugs, Jodie

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  4. Your crafting is always so beautiful :) I know what you mean about self-shaming though, it's something I also need to stop. I have just done a big colourful granny square for a baby blanket,that worked well :) xx

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