"Take a step back and think."
That's what my professor, Alex Juhasz, suggested I do to finish up the semester. It was during a class dinner for another course I am taking of hers (MCSI: Archive). She suggested I think about my DIY Learning course objectives, and what has changed. What have I done? What have I learned?
To start, I learned I don't need the online communities to be able to create, but they do help. In the end, I found I had to log off Pinterest and YouTube and just do it. I could pin as much as I wanted and watch the same videos or new ones and still I would not be in any better shape to finish the project. There is research and knowledge, and then there is creation.
Online communities are so powerful. Think about #BlackLivesMatter. Imagine the kind of impact a group of individuals was able to create simply by reaching out and starting an Internet movement.
Our lives have changed with the online environment, but the act of creating has not. We use online communities to feel less alone, but when I am knitting a scarf, it does not matter to me if 10 other people have knit this same scarf and taken photos of it and posted them on ravelry. None of that matters during the act of creation.
Before, when I am planning the project, and after, when I am showcasing the project, the online crafters are awesome. They post thoughtful comments and add a +1 to my google post. Which is all well and good, but the gratification has never come from others.
I create so that I feel proud of something I made with my own two hands. Whether other people think it's cool or if I find like-minded individuals-- that is a whole other playing field from the act of creating.
I love the online crafting communities, don't get me wrong. But I have realized that these communities are just that-- communities. They do not hold your individual potential and they cannot cultivate the sense of gratification you reach when you know you have made something all on your own. The act of creating is an individual experience. It can exist in a larger community. You can go out and brag. You can type out the pattern. You can give it away to a catfish you met online. I don't care.
But never forget that crafts are an act of creation. Whatever the book or website that helped you was only a stepping stone. Because YOU were the one who did this. You should be proud, online and offline, in real life and in digital spaces, alone and together.
As always, stay creative.
Much love,
Rebecca "Rivi"
Showing posts with label reflective. Show all posts
Showing posts with label reflective. Show all posts
Friday, December 18, 2015
Saturday, November 14, 2015
A Reflection on Online Tutorials: Knitting Edition
What is DIY Learning? That is what I created this class to discover. I have thought about it a lot in the past few weeks, and started noticing that a lot of things I take for granted are a result of online learning.
For example, let's take knitting. I am a huge knitter. I just finished my first sweater, which I am very proud of. When I tell people I knit, they always comment on how "cute" or "sweet" it is. Yes, I know knitting is mainly thought of as an activity grandmothers do to pass the time in their rocking chairs. But there has been a lot of research on the effects of knitting on mental health plus my friends and family are always really touched by my hand-knit gifts.
I have been knitting for a little over a year now. To be fair, I learned the basics of knitting in elementary school when my mom started knitting. But once my mom had made about 15 scarves and could not seem to follow the VHS tutorials she stopped knitting, and so did I.
My best friend Rachel, on the other hand, started in third grade and has been knitting ever since. Instead of late night high school parties she spent her afternoons at her local knitting store, where she was the youngest member there by several decades. She tells me how these women, retired or stay at home moms, spend their lives at the yarn store, sitting at the table, buying yarn, and getting help from more experienced knitters.
Rachel has been knitting for over a decade. I have been knitting for a year. Here's the paradox: Rachel comes to me when she needs help. Why? Because ironically I know different skills and I am not afraid to learn a new technique.
This, I think, is why online learning appeals to me so much. It has made me more adventurous and less fearful of failure.
A particular example of this is with the knitting technique of learning to cast on. There are multiple ways to cast on to start your project, and almost every educational knitting book has a diagram or explanation. But teaching yourself a new skill is not a "one size fits all" deal, especially with creative minds. My mother could not figure out how to cast on, and always had the woman at the craft store start her project (I assume she annoyed customers in line more than once). She had beginner knitting books and a few VHS tapes but still, it's a hard technique to learn without a specialized lesson.
A quick YouTube search shows me:
I hope you enjoyed this blog post. I will hopefully be adding another soon. Here is my personal favorite cast on video, but feel free to find your own lesson that works for you. Isn't that what online education is all about?
Stay Creative,
Rebecca
For example, let's take knitting. I am a huge knitter. I just finished my first sweater, which I am very proud of. When I tell people I knit, they always comment on how "cute" or "sweet" it is. Yes, I know knitting is mainly thought of as an activity grandmothers do to pass the time in their rocking chairs. But there has been a lot of research on the effects of knitting on mental health plus my friends and family are always really touched by my hand-knit gifts.
I have been knitting for a little over a year now. To be fair, I learned the basics of knitting in elementary school when my mom started knitting. But once my mom had made about 15 scarves and could not seem to follow the VHS tutorials she stopped knitting, and so did I.
My best friend Rachel, on the other hand, started in third grade and has been knitting ever since. Instead of late night high school parties she spent her afternoons at her local knitting store, where she was the youngest member there by several decades. She tells me how these women, retired or stay at home moms, spend their lives at the yarn store, sitting at the table, buying yarn, and getting help from more experienced knitters.
Rachel has been knitting for over a decade. I have been knitting for a year. Here's the paradox: Rachel comes to me when she needs help. Why? Because ironically I know different skills and I am not afraid to learn a new technique.
This, I think, is why online learning appeals to me so much. It has made me more adventurous and less fearful of failure.
A particular example of this is with the knitting technique of learning to cast on. There are multiple ways to cast on to start your project, and almost every educational knitting book has a diagram or explanation. But teaching yourself a new skill is not a "one size fits all" deal, especially with creative minds. My mother could not figure out how to cast on, and always had the woman at the craft store start her project (I assume she annoyed customers in line more than once). She had beginner knitting books and a few VHS tapes but still, it's a hard technique to learn without a specialized lesson.
A quick YouTube search shows me:
 |
| If you have specific problems, there are videos for that |
Stay Creative,
Rebecca
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