practice

I have a confession: I wasn’t going to write today. Writing has been a frustration and a struggle lately, and I was just going to take a break today and head straight to work. But then my eyes landed on a few of my projects scattered here and there. Some lying on my project/sewing table over there in the corner. Some stored in their various bags to keep all of the supplies for each one consolidated and ready for me to just pick up where I left off.

Then as my daughter came in for a hug before heading out to work, I noticed the sweater she was wearing. It was her first major knitting project, finished years ago with much excitement. And it’s beautiful. A long, cable knit cardigan in variegated green (my favorite color). I thought about how long she had been knitting before she made that sweater, how proud we all were of her accomplishment at the time, and how far she has come in her various skills since then.

All of these images came crashing down into a single word of reminder: practice.

While it is true that we each have skills we are more naturally inclined toward, none of them find their fullness without practice. I frequently hear the words, “Oh, I could never ____ like that.” Sometimes it’s related to my daughter’s knitting and crocheting. Other times to my son’s guitar playing or my other daughter’s jewelry making. It’s always blamed on lacking patience or dexterity or some other seemingly inborn skill.

But really, it comes down to a desire — or lack thereof — to put in the time to practice.

Again, we’re all designed differently, with different creative inclinations. The guitar technique that came easily to my musically-inclined son will never come easily to me. I would have to practice a whole lot more than he does to be even remotely competent at the guitar, while he practices to be very good at it. I have to weigh whether or not that is a worthwhile expenditure of my time. While it would be very, very, very useful for me to know how to play guitar, I don’t know if I have enough time to invest to be competent.

Even so, if I practiced, I’d get there. Practice doesn’t mean perfection. It doesn’t even always means success. It just means that we put targeted effort into growing skills intentionally, knowing that personal growth comes as much from the process as from reaching some vague goal.

Some day I might get back to practicing guitar, just for my own musical pleasure. For now, I practice things I am more inclined toward, including writing. And that thought is what motivated me to change my plans this morning. To go ahead and sit down and write.

On Fridays, I’ve been posting tool box ideas. My first tool box post identified people as a universal tool for any tool box. I think practice might be the second universal tool. Whether it’s for a hobby or a life skill, whether it fits a professional or interpersonal need or any other aspect of life, practice should become a habit. Something we choose to do whether we want to or not.

So here you go. Today’s practice for me — sitting down to write. What can you practice today?

I recently started knitting a sweater. This is a big deal for me. Most of my knitting attempts have been things like dish cloths or squares that I’d eventually assemble into a blanket. Or a simple lace shawl. All things with very clear-cut pattern instructions. Nothing big or major.

Then I saw a sweater pattern in one of my daughter’s pattern books, and I fell in love. I also realized that the pattern would let me use some yarn that had been in my stockpile for years. It’s so very soft, and I’d long wanted to use it for a sweater. But, I was about a skein short for any of the sweater patterns I’d found. This pattern allowed me to mix that yarn with a couple of other colors. Perfect!

Right.

Following a full pattern for building a sweater is very different from reading a pattern chart to create a fun design in a square. Or even from learning a sequence that creates a lace pattern and allows increases and decreases. Following this type of pattern requires knowing that M1 means “make one” and then knowing what your options are for “making” a stitch where one currently doesn’t exist. It means knowing how to knit short row and what DS both stands for and means.

Are you lost yet? I know the feeling!

Oh, and I haven’t even mentioned the color work. I’ve done knitting where you change colors between rows. But, knitting where you work back and forth between two colors to create a pattern? Yeah, this is a first for me.

But, I was determined to give this a shot, so I got started. My first time through, I had a lot of snags and pulls before I ever got through the the first ten rows of stitches. So, I pulled it out and started again. The second try looked much better, but then I realized I did not, in fact, make my short rows correctly, and there were holes that shouldn’t be there. No worries. I knew a way to fix that…later.

I finally got to the color work section, and I discovered that it was much easier — and more fun — than expected! Unfortunately, I got to the end of the nine rows of that small color working section, only to realize I had miscounted a small section in the front…on the very first row. I though I’d been paying attention the whole time to make sure the pattern was working right. But, I’d missed that one part. Two dozen stitches or less. But enough. And front and center on the neckline.

I had to frog it all. Again. (And I had to look up why pulling out work is called “frogging.” I’d heard it for years but never understood it, and for some reason it suddenly became very important to know. Apparently, it’s because when you mumble, “Rip it! Rip it!” as you are pulling out stitches, it sounds like “ribbit.” Sounds like as fun of an explanation as any!)

I frogged it. I restarted. Again. And I managed to make a nice, even starting chain. And a lovely ribbed neckline. And to create short rows with only a few gaps that will need to be closed instead of a lot. And then somehow mess up my count on an increase row. I was so frustrated at that point that I was ready to give up because I’m not great at frogging multiple rows without having to pull everything out and start again. Fortunately, my daughter came to my rescue and quickly got me back to a good spot.

Which let me get back to solid progress. And mostly correct counts on my increase rows (nothing that couldn’t easily be adjusted in the next row). And color work that I’m very proud of, both on the front and the back. And consistent tension on my even stitches.

Now, I’m well on my way to actually making my first sweater — one that I will hopefully be comfortable wearing because it looks decent!

Granted, I have a long way to go. But I’m getting there! And I’m learning so much through the repetition of frogging and restarting, getting a little more practice with new skills.

Having to ditch hard work is frustrating. Going back to square one because of yet another mistake is disheartening. But, when we keep trying, even after having to frog it all, we learn that we’ve grown. We see that trying again is paying off.

May we never be derailed by the frogging necessary in life, frustrating though it may be. May we instead embrace the learning and growing, recognizing that we are better because of the froggy moments in our lives.

Tag: practice

Frogging