Sunday 18 December 2016

Practice Makes Perfect...


This phrase is certainly one I grew up with.  My mother encouraged all of my pursuits, reminding me that I must “practice to make perfect” the task at hand.

As a child, learning something new is fun and exciting.  One simply gets down to the business of learning, entering into it with full enthusiasm. Mistakes are opportunities to try once more (and since it was so much fun the first time, who wouldn’t want to try again!?).  Giving up was not an option and gaining mastery felt great.

But something happened along the way…

As an adult, there is certainly enthusiasm and desire when learning something new, but there is also the Inner Critic who is constantly looking over one’s shoulder, pointing out any little mistake or contradicting an original idea, throwing in wrenches of doubt, and shaking one’s confidence. I really don’t like that Inner Critic, but it is hard to shake such a tenacious fellow.

He is selfish and pushy – taking up more space at times than my Muse.  But, I am refusing to let him win.  In my efforts to learn this skill of spinning, I was worried that my imperfect practice might be leading me astray – setting down the wrong neural pathways which might be harder to correct if I were ever to learn a different (perhaps better) way of spinning.  

So, I asked the Collective on Ravelry if this could be the case…could one spend hours, weeks, or even months learning to spin incorrectly (even though the desired yarn produced was acceptable)? 

Several spinning mavens pointed me to an amazing site called Craftsy and suggested I take the course titled Drafting from Worsted to Woolen.  Without hesitation, I purchased my first online spinning course and was simply amazed at what I received.  

The instructor is excellent (plus, I loved her sleeve tattoos and her spunky hair cut!).  The camera shots and angles really showed the techniques well.  Her explanations made sense, she explored several ways to approach the same technique, she explained common mistakes, and generally helped base of knowledge grow 20-fold.  The content was exactly the technical mumbo jumbo I needed (craved!) to help ensure I was practicing in good form!

I was doing some things incorrectly and in some ways was making it harder for myself.  I have changed many things and it has been like going back to square one.  My spinning feels new and unfamiliar again, but that is ok. I know it will eventually become more familiar, comfortable, and perhaps someday even meditative.

I love my new class – 7 lessons in all.  I can watch them over and over, I can stop, repeat, and even annotate my lesson.  The format, lessons, and platform upon which the courses are built is amazing.  It truly is like having a private spinning instructor whom I can rely on to show me the ropes!  There is also an active online community and reading through the questions and answers associated with each lesson provides another layer of learning.  The Craftsy online learning portal is going to be a place I return to often given the depth and breadth of courses offered (there are even courses on baking!).

So, my job now is “practice to make perfect” my short forward drafting skills (also known as the inch-worm technique!). 

As I learn to spin, my mother’s words and spirit of encouragement fill me with a sense of “I can do this!”  I miss her every single day.  I am sure she would be interested to know about my spinning pursuits.  And I know she would tell me, once again, “Practice makes perfect.” 

1 comment:

  1. Hi Deborah! I am really enjoying reading your blog! I can't wait to see what you're upto next. My blog is back up and running and can be found at https://toliveanextraordinarylife.blogspot.ca/ Feel free to swing by for a vising. I'm going to make an effort to get more posts up and rolling soon.

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