skilled, Skilled, or failure?

This year, the one in which I’m thirty the whole time, has proven to be one of much thought.

I’ve had many conversations with many friends about how they are or they aren’t something. They “scribble” but do not think of themselves as Writers because their novel will never see an agent, let alone be published. They knit because they love to, but because they do not knit something crazy complex like an Alice Starmore sweater out of discontinued yarns but washcloths, scarves, and hats for charity and thus think they are pretenders.

Yes, there are many aspects of life where one can have skill but cannot be Skilled. For example, I know enough about biology and anatomy that what my dentist says makes sense. I can tell others I think that they should follow good oral hygiene. However, I personally, cannot be a Dentist. Same with Law. I can read the USC, it *is* technically written in English and I can understand the law but I cannot be a Lawyer. I would need to reach a level of Mastery through supervised education, training, and examination first.

However there are many others areas where if you wish you can have Skill, without the rigid formality. That doesn’t mean you are better or worse. There are some who will go beyond what I define as Skill and become Masters. Some may do this through formal education, many probably will not. It does not lessen any of these people (especially not my dentist).

Today, my creative world consists of Writing, Knitting, Crochet, and Embroidery. One truth I’ve discovered from learning more about myself and from those many different Skilled and skilled people I meet in that process is for one to go beyond being just a knitter and to become a real Knitter, could happen the first time you pick up the needles. When you work on projects that you like, when you are open to not just blindly following, when you are open minded to trying something different even if it’s confusing, when you accept that you may fail, when you want to learn more, then you are real. It can be one or all of these things.

Here’s my most recent failure:

Greyish Inspirations
88.0 yards of Punta Yarns Merisock Hand Painted
Ravelry Project Page

I knew what I wanted in my head, but it didn’t come out how I wanted for my head. That’s ok. I tried my idea and it didn’t work. There are aspects I rocked and parts that need major improvement. That it isn’t perfect doesn’t make me a failure, nor does the fact that I tried to design something and it didn’t work out make me better than anyone or really worse than anyone. The most important part for me is that I had a ton of fun along the way.

• Category: handmade