Learning.
I touched on this in my G is for Growth
post but I want to continue it on here. In Marked,
there's a place where one of her friends asks Aisling why she's
willing to do so much, to spend so much of her time doing new things.
Aisling's response is something she attributed to her father: “If
you're not learning you're stagnant. If you're stagnant you're not
going anywhere. Learn so you can go somewhere.”
I had crochet hooks
and yarn, but didn't know how to use them together. I wanted to learn
since I wanted to make some afghans like my mother and grandmother
had. I went to a friend and she taught me how to crochet a chain and
attempted to teach me how to make rows. I struggled with it because
her teaching style didn't fit my needs.
So what did I do? I
went to YouTube. I watched I don't know how many videos before
finding a series that fit what I needed. I watched them over and over
again until I got it right. After that, I went on to make a small lap
afghan. After that I started reading patterns and making plans to
make an even more elaborate afghan. I didn't have the right sized
crochet hook and never got around to getting one, but the information
was there and I learned it.
I started knitting
when I was 8. My grandmother taught me and my mom kept it up. They
only taught me to knit and purl, teaching me the stockinette pattern
but that was it. I could experiment with both types of stitches and
make my own patterns but I wanted to know more. I wanted to make hats
and gloves and socks.
I got
a set of DPNs. DPNs are double pointed needles. They came in a set of
five. Once again I was on my own because no one I knew could use
them. So I read patterns on
Ravelry, I asked questions in forums, and once again I turned to
YouTube to teach me how to use them. I never got to finish my
projects having lost one of my DPNs somehow. But I still learned. I
still know how to do it too. When I get around to it again, I'll get
new DPNs and start over. I may need a refresher course but the
knowledge is there.
Learning
is such an integral part of every day life that we don't even realize
we're doing it. You're always learning something new. The trick is
knowing that and paying attention. If you don't think you have an
opportunity to learn something new, find one. Ask questions. Watch a
video. Read an article in your newspaper or one of the many online
news sources. Keep an open mind.
