You’re probably right
We need to talk about something…
When I post a picture of a swatch or a project on instagram, the second most common comment I get (right after ‘what’s that yarn?’) is some version of ‘I could never do that, that’s way too hard for me!’ And it sort of breaks my heart. Because if that’s what you’re telling yourself, you’re probably right…you probably can’t.
But I have some news! You’re not right because the thing itself is particularly hard. You’re right because if you go into it thinking ‘I could never…’ then you’re not ever going to try, and as trite as it sounds, you aren’t going to learn anything new if you don’t try. So I’m going to ask you to make the tiniest little shift in what you’re telling yourself. Instead of saying ‘I could never do that,’ say ‘I haven’t done that yet.’ I promise it makes all the difference in the world.
I had my own little ‘I haven’t done that yet’ moment earlier this year. We had folks here working on the house (burst pipe…water everywhere…ongoing nightmare of plaster dust, paint cans, phone calls, and despair…we’ll talk about it later). And while they are all lovely and are working hard to fix everything, it is disruptive. And disruptive means I can’t write. So I decide I’d learn something new.
The next thing on my list of stuff to learn is brioche. So I grabbed a few bits of scrap yarn, poked around on google for five minutes, and started trying. A few minutes later I had this:
Stunningly beautiful? Nope. Full of mistakes? Yup. Instructive? Oh very much so.
So…with the stuff I’d learned , I grabbed some other yarn and started trying more things. Five more minutes of searching and reading and I was ready to try again:
Is it going to stop anyone in their tracks? Nope. Did it make me feel a whole heck of a lot more confident? Once again, very much so.
At this point I was ready to just play around for the afternoon. If I got stuck I could always either rip it out or go read something and see if I could find help. This was just a swatch, not anything precious…plus it kept me distracted while the nice people tore my house apart. After an hour or two, I had this:
Again, not especially amazing. But in a few hours of practice, I’d gotten comfortable enough to go from ‘brioche…oh yeah I don’t know how to do that’ to being able to cast on, work flat or in the round, increase, decrease, cable, and cast off. And I was ready to cast on for my first actual project.
And I’m not special. You can absolutely do this too…if you’ll let yourself.
In fact, if you knit at all, you have done this. You’ve gone from ‘I don’t know how to knit’ (because none of us are born knowing how to knit) to whatever level of proficiency you have now. And there’s no reason at all that you can’t learn more. So if you look at cables or lace or colorwork or brioche or steeking or whatever else is freaking you out and think ‘I could never,’ stop that. ‘I don’t want to’ is fine…that’s totally valid and there are all sorts of things I don’t want to do right now (sweaters, I’m looking at you…you too blankets). But if you want to but just haven’t yet, try switching from ‘I could never’ to ‘I haven’t yet.’ Leave yourself room to learn something…and be smarter than me and don’t wait for a burst pipe and a house full of contractors to make you do it.
Have you tried one pass brioche yet? The fact most patterns are written for two pass brioche make it hard, but it’s sooooooo much quicker. Sockmatician Nathan does an excellent YouTube tuturial for the basic stitch, and has started holding classes (really wish I’d spotted he was doing a class in Bath!)
I haven’t, but it’s totally something I’m going to look into!
I feel like I probably don’t want to switch mid project (because I wonder if it would change my tension…sort of like I don’t like to switch knitting needle material mid project even they’re the same size). But it looks interesting!
Yes! Exactly what I believe too. Also, there is a big difference in attitude and willingness to try when the task is perceived as ‘hard’ or if it is something ‘interesting.’
Oh god, Hunter, you are living the homeowners nightmare. I’m so impressed with how you turned lemons into lemonade. I have this conversation with students all the time- both the middle schoolers and the adults. And sometimes I have to remind myself too. Hope things get back to normal soon.
Also, the colors you chose you your Brioche swatch did stop me in my tracks. Wow.
Valuable words! It is definitely a matter of attitude (most of the time), and learning something new is not always easy, but usually rewarding. Thanks for sharing.
You know, you’re wrong about one thing ~ that last swatch DID strike me as amazing, and I could suddenly see that as a headband. And the bottom of a hat (the kind where you knit the band first, then come back and pick up sts to knit the rest; my vision didn’t go any farther than that..) Thanks for the reminder!!
Hunter, I have been planning to try brioche knitting in a couple of weeks and was planning to look up some tutorials. You saved me the trouble, thank you very much! I will be packing swatch yarn and project yarn to take on vacation. Can hardly wait to start. I love the two color swatch you made. It may not be perfect but it is very pretty and eye-catching. Thank you for the post!
Brilliant, Hunter.
Thank you.
Absolutely love your second swatch!
Growth mindset in action!
Yes, this is so me. I started my first basket. It is difficult. I hate crocheting anything in the round. Let alone crocheting an actual garmet. I told my husband this and he said you have to try to learn, it keeps your brain strong. At 60 and just trying crocheting again for the last year or so, I do find it hard to try. I rip out alot of thing. And sadly, I look at the pattern first and say “I can’t do that”. I am doing this basket and yes there are mistakes but I am going to keep trying. Thank you for your post.