Quote of the Day: Faith Popcorn
November 9th, 2014
Handmade things with all their wonderful charming imperfections have a very rare value. Any craft as applicable and pragmatic as kitting has a great future.
Faith Popcorn (from The Wabi-Sabi House: The Japanese Art of Imperfect Beauty)
As I’ve been crocheting away I notice the mistakes I make. Of course not many people would notice, but I do. I have to keep myself from tearing everything out to fix my mistakes, making myself remember that imperfections make things unique. I’m trying to learn not to be a perfectionist, which is quite difficult for me. Sometimes good is good enough!
Do you find that you are too much of a perfectionist?
that is beautiful!
I very much so struggle with perfectionism, but am starting to learn to push through it!
to angie h's comment
Susy, in some areas, I am sooooo a perfectionist and in others I could give a rip. When I am deep into a building or repairing project I have to just eventually declare it finished because blemishes can always be found. Now with house cleaning …. not so much. There is no end or accomplishment to house cleaning. It’s a never ending thing that always needs doing. There’s never a time when one can say, “It is finished.” And besides, vacuum cleaners, in my opinion, are not considered a power tool.
Have a great hand made blemish unique kitting day.
to Nebraska Dave's comment
Oh boy. This speaks to me for sure. I just ripped out over a foot of knitting on a scarf where the mistakes were annoying me way too much to keep going. I think I’m so slow at knitting because I’m so afraid to make a mistake! What you’re making looks beautiful.
to Sierra's comment
Susy, your crocheting is so pretty, and challenging (to me, anyway – I can knit complicated stitches but my crocheting skills are basic and simple). Your yarn is pretty too – it looks handdyed, and I like the little pale bits where the dye is lighter.
I will rip out mistakes if they are structural – if leaving in the mistake will make it impossible to continue on with the pattern. But if they’re just going to cause a slight irregularity, I leave them. As you say, they show the work of hands rather than machines. This is what attracts me to Saori weaving. I weave lots of structured patterns in my traditional weaving, and that’s fine – but when I want to express my inner creativity, I turn to Saori weaving, where there are no rules or mistakes, and the results can’t be duplicated by a machine.
to DebbieB's comment
I tend to frog more than I’d like to admit. =) Leaving things be, unless it will unravel do to my mistake, is my new modus operandi.
to Annette's comment
I can let some mistakes go on some of my projects, especially if it is for my use. However, I must correct mistakes when doing lace. I enjoy doing difficult lace projects and sometimes mistakes have to be correct. But would have to put it down and work on a simple knit every row project when the mistakes occur too often.
What a beautiful stitch pattern……..what is it called. Love the color scheme, reminds me of my favorite Indian curry dish.
to Lemongrass's comment
Beautiful scarf! Can you share the pattern?
to Jenn's comment
Sure, I purchased it over on Ravelry: http://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/lace-cowl-126
to Susy's comment
I will rip back if there is a hole, it doesn’t fit, or is an extremely obvious mistake. Otherwise, I’m likely to leave it. Now, I am in the process of ripping back an entire sweater and making something else because I don’t like the end result. It’s one thing for there to be imperfections; it’s another to have made something you’ll never wear.
to Kyle's comment