Perfect Practice makes Perfect

Knit Camp is now in full swing, and today's tutorial, up on Kat's blog, is for casting on.  I have written two different cast on methods for you, so you can choose which one to try, or try both!  The cable method is most similar to the knit stitch, so is good preparation for that, but can be tricky for complete beginners.  If you are a complete beginner, you might prefer to try the thumb method, as this is really quite easy to tackle.  The only drawback with this one is that the first row can end up a little loopy if you're not careful.  All I would say is, try try and try again, and don't expect your first attempts to be perfect.  I love this quote by Aristotle:  "The best way for a student to get out of difficulty is to go through it."  

Before I became a knitwear designer, I was a violin teacher for more than a decade, and I thought I would try and apply some lateral thinking to see what I could squeeze out of my experiences as a music teacher to try and help the campers learning to knit.

Today, we will start with looking at 'Practice'.

Practice - the most common thing that springs to mind about practice is the much mis-quoted saying 'practice makes perfect'.  However, only perfect practice makes perfect!   Here are some tip for practising, which can as easily be applied to knitting as to music

• Little and often - If you practice something once, then don't do it again for a week, you will probably have to start from scratch to re-learn what you thought you knew.  If you try and practice for a long time to begin with you, you will get frustrated, and the parts of your brain and body that you are using in a new way will soon get tired, and even achy and sore.  Then the practice stops being effective.  Stop practising when you start to feel tired, or better still, before you feel tired.  Listen to your body and your mind.  If its telling you you've had enough, it means it!
• Chunking - I am too old to have experienced 'chunking' in Maths lessons, but the concept is similar to the method I taught for many years to my violin pupils.  Break the task up into manageable chunks.  So in knitting, this means, don't attempt to learn several skills at a time.  Space it out, and give yourself adequate time practising one skill before moving onto the next.  The way Knit Camp is designed, you are being given one task a day.  As frustrating as it may seem, if your goal is to be a good knitter at the end of Knit Camp, then follow the pace set, and 'chunk' it.
• Stay calm and relaxed - When we are learning a new skill, we have a tendency to tense up.  This is because we are having to concentrate more than usual, and in a way that is not familiar.  We may also be using muscles in a different way than before.  When we learn to knit, our brains are having to create new pathways and patterns to send the messages to our fingers.  When we get frustrated and angry with ourselves because its not happening exactly as we want it to, we compromise that process, as we are giving our brains something else to think about which competes with the task at hand.  One of your goals as a new knitter, is to develop good habits, and for this to happen, your body needs to be relaxed.  Like any physical activity, once unwanted tension creeps in, problems can occur.  If it helps to relax you, why not listen to some music while you knit?  I find Mozart one of the most relaxing things to knit to, but you will have your own preferences.
• Repetition - We learn by repeating the same activity over and over.  This is why child are taught to chant their times tables, and can still remember them when they are adults (moreorless!).  To make a process instinctive, you need to repeat it.  So, today, I suggest that you cast on not just once, but twice, three times, four times.....or however many times you can.  But don't necessarily do so consecutively.  Break up your repetition with other activities.  So, make a cup of tea, do your tax return, make a phonecall - whatever.  Doing a session at the beginning of the day, and another midway through the day, and another at the end of the day is the ideal.  We don't have ideal lives, I know, but knowing the ideal can help to work towards it.

There are many more things I could write about practice, but these principles will hopefully get you thinking for now, and help with the first tutorial.  Don't forget to join the facebook page for help when you get stuck, and for sharing your progress and photos of your work.

Happy casting on!