Jananas

After yesterday’s interview (already got a call back for a second!), I came home and treated myself to several hours of fibre – spinning, plying, and knitting up a storm. I spun around 2 ounces of some white wool I have and just over 2 ounces of some green/blue/teal rovings (plus a little extra wool/soy silk blend from class on sunday). Then I plied the two together!

I have to admit that I’m pretty proud at how well this turned out overall, especially for only having learned two weeks ago! There are still some spots where its a little too bulky or where the twist was a little off (especially true when a bulky area met a super thin area), but I think I may have an idea about how to get that to work out better next time. Give me a chance to test out my theory and I’ll let you know.

I also really want the chance to bring up knitting/spinning in a job interview. Its amazing how much more patience I’ve developed as a result – both with myself and with others (because I have more patience with my own learning process, I’m also able to extend that understanding to others).

I’ve learned a tonne of new skills because I’m willing to experiment – I’m okay with messing up because its part of the learning process. I think this is something that gets lost in knowledge work because there isn’t always a hard, physical end product. Think of the end product as a line drawn in the sand – if its something physical (like two skeins of yarn or two scarves), you can easily compare the two and see how far you’ve come. You can see where you improved and where you still need to improve.

I didn’t realize this when all I did with my time was work with spreadsheets and word documents and project plans. Know that I spend so much time creating stuff I can see that messing up is part of learning and that things do get better if you practice. When make that ‘ah ha’ leap of logic, it becomes easier to apply it to other parts of your life – like my knowledge work.

Its funny how and where insights come from. What triggered your last ‘ah ha’ moment?

Strange, This was meant to be a post about some yarn that I’m pretty proud of creating and instead ended up being about triggers and insights and learning. To end it back on a fibre sort of note, here’s a close up of some hand spun and home plied goodness.

More from jananas

• Wanted: a good home for some Yarn
• Dying Rovings & Hand Spun Yarn
• The Dilemmas of Working