talking back to a knitting blog

[firecat]

Knitting Daily has had a new theme since the beginning of the year—Be a Fearless Knitter. I don't like this, and I was ignoring it and hoping it would go away, but after the third blog post on the subject, I talked back.

I really don't like this "fearless/fearful knitting" theme.

I feel like people, and women especially, pile too many "shoulds" on ourselves and spend too much of our lives feeling guilty and unworthy.

I gather that "Be a fearless knitter" is intended to end that. But I think it reinforces guilt. To me, "Be a fearless knitter" says "It's not good enough for you to enjoy a hobby. You have to turn it into a self-improvement project. You have to be constantly vigilant that you have goals that are challenging enough, and that you are working hard enough toward your goals." "Be a fearless knitter" is yet another way of telling myself I'm not doing "enough".

Affirmations work, but affirmations need to be stated in a positive manner. The word "fearless" focuses the mind on fear and is negative.

Let's say "I am a joyful knitter," "I love to knit," "I love to learn new knitting techniques," "I love to try new projects."

This is not intended to disparage people who find the theme useful.

Comments

[bastette-joyce.livejournal.com]

OY!!!

That's all I have to say. :)

[firecat]

Heh. That says it all.

[bastette-joyce.livejournal.com]

PS - I really like the icon you used for this post. :)

"Fearless knitting" reminds me of "extreme ironing". :) There really is such a thing. People take an ironing board, iron, and a wrinkled clothing item, and attempt to iron the item in some bizarre place, like on the edge of an icy cliff, or under water (though I can't imagine how much good the latter does). The main point is to get a photo of yourself doing it and post it on the appropriate website.

Anyway, why can't people just accept that knitting isn't about fearlessness any more than ironing is? If I wanted to be fearless, I would drive a race car or go skydiving, I wouldn't knit. These people should accept that they are not doing a daredevil activity and just enjoy it!

[firecat]

Icon: Thanks!

Xtreme ironing: Some people have too much time on their hands.

I do understand about being afraid of knitting or any creative endeavor (I'm afraid of certain kinds of creative writing), but I think making a big deal out of it the way the blog is doing makes it worse.