The chase is better than the catch

We do crafts for the process, not the end result. The end result matters (if for no other reason than the testament to your efforts), but it's the journey that is enjoyable, educational, frustrating.  

I'm pretty crafty. I do knitting, crocheting, scrapbooking, sewing, watercolours, I've done embroidery and macrame. I've done things I don't remember anymore. Some crafts (like fiber-related ones) are clearly stuck with me for good, while others are a more transitory adventure. I first learned to knit as a kid. Both my grandmothers were fantastic knitters and I learned to knit before I knew it was hard. Then I haven't touched knitting for years. But apparently it's like riding a bike. When I picked up knitting again in my 20s, I knew how to do basic stitches and I didn't have issues learning more complicated ones or learning new techniques. What I mildly resent though is the categorical decisiveness of the patterns and their ultimate precision. It seems I always need the exact right yarn of the specific weight and even brand, the specific size needles and the ability to obtain the exact right gauge (and the patience to do a swatch). There often is no guidance on deviations from the provided pattern in case I want to customize it even a little bit -- do stitches have to be a multiple of a specific number? what if I use a different yarn? can I shorten or lengthen the piece or will it have a devastating effect on the construction? Moreover, surely there are  some standard mistakes that can occur, so couldn't the pattern tell me what to do if my next step looks wrong in some kind of expected way? 

The issue isn't actually with knitting patterns or any other craft instructions. The issue is that they are the final draft. They make the work look effortless and immediate, written by and for the person with an assumption that they will execute each step perfectly on the first try, with no miscalculations, wrong turns, frogging, re-knitting, frogging again. But do not be fooled: the author might have laboured for hours before producing a clean finished piece. Noone's first draft is their final draft. But we do not get to see the messy story of creation. The pattern does not speak of unsuccessful attempts, trial and error approaches, small examples, ideas that never worked out; this is draft work that noone but the craftsperson themself sees. Behind every piece of craft is a very non-direct journey of how the creator got there.   

So this is my journey blog. I will take craft projects and document my journey, that is the many failures that (hopefully) lead to some kind of a success.