Interesting Discussion Pt. 1

I'm on a Yahoo list called KnittingNovices, and some interesting things got said. Right now I'll only post what I said, and hopefully soon the author of the other comments will give permission for me to post them here. I think you'll get what set off the original poster by simply reading what I've written.


Re: Need Answers

Hmmm... I think I have to disagree here. Not with individual points, but with overall concept. What I've read here is you must do X before Y before Z and no other order. On individual points, I agree, because you can't knit if you can't cast on. There are some skills that must be mastered in a specific order or the next skill will never come. Where my thoughts diverge is in the assertion that one must complete a scarf before a sock, or to be more general, that "easy" projects must be finished before "intermediate" and "advanced" projects.

I taught myself to knit over the internet and within four weeks I had completed a purse and two hats so I took on the sock. I feel pleased that I didn't have anyone there to tell me that it was too "advanced" for my experience because it came out beautifully despite a mistake here and there. Now, I'll never make the mate to that particular sock because the stripe pattern I chose to do (in actual stripes rather than self-striping) was a pain in the rear, but I made my first sock the right fit the first time, and I chalk a lot of that up to not having someone more "experienced" telling me that I couldn't do it. Just recently, I have turned down an invitation to take a class because when I spoke to the instructor she asked me what I had completed and then proceeded to tell me that I had no business attempting socks or lace (the lace is coming along quite nicely, btw) because I didn't have the "experience". I also became quite irate with another "advanced", "experienced" knitter who told me that I could not double knit. Three guesses as to the reason why.

Personally, I believe anyone should try anything at least once. At worst, you frog it and do something else, but the best is completing the project and having the satisfaction of knowing you made *that*. I'm also of the mind that we (meaning Americans, since I don't know anything about the countries of our waaaay out of towners) as a country have entered into this air of entitlement (I'll skip the long part about the spoiled brats people are raising these days), where everything is owed to them, so no one ever gets set up for failure because we're all too special and too loved and on and on with all sorts of gunk that basically amounts to "everyone is a winner" on a saccharine level that would gag a Teletubby. I'm of the opinion that everyone should set themselves up for failure once in a while. If someone else didn't dare to fall flat on their face, would you have your morning Starbucks? Would you be checking your Yahoo! Mail? Would your paper be on your doorstep if any one of the people between where the news happened and you Had decided that they weren't "experienced" enough?

So try that sock, try that cable, try the lace, try it all! At worst, whatever it is comes out five kinds of ugly. Then you hang it in the closet, try again, and when dad starts the ugly sweater contest this Christmas, you'll be a step ahead of the competition. Or you could always use it for the white elephant game =P

It just irritates me when someone says can't. If there's one word I will never accept, it's can't. So please excuse my little rant, I just felt the other side had to be heard.