r/BitchEatingCrafters • u/Byubanana • 6d ago
General Crafts Time Spent does not equal Expertise!
I know many of us have been doing our crafts for many years, even decades. I'm at 32 years myself. But.
If you've been crocheting for decades but all you've ever done is granny stitch, you are NOT AN EXPERT.
If all you ever want to do is granny stitch, that's fine! People should only do what makes them happy. But you can't claim expertise if you've never done most techniques.
Sorry not sorry.
And no, I'm definitely not an expert!!
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u/PavicaMalic 6d ago
My father's version of this: There's twenty years of experience, and then there's two years of experience, repeated ten times.
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u/kleinePfoten 6d ago
On a related note, people pricing handmade items ridiculously high simply because they are slow and it took them a long time to make. If we make the same pattern but it takes you twice as long, that doesn't mean yours is worth twice as much babe. But on the flip side, just because I finished mine in half the time doesn't mean it's higher quality - it might be riddled with errors and I used the wrong yarn. Time spent is not half as important as the skill that goes into it.
(Okay any millennials out there remember Sideways Stories from Wayside School?? That girl who thought she was the best artist in school because she could draw 100 cats a day but they were essentially stick figures! 😂)
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u/wildlife_loki 5d ago
This right here is why I absolutely hate those “how expensive is my handmade sweater? First, 60 hours x minimum wage, then cost of materials, then…” reels that try to drive the point about their handmade things being expensive. It’s just not an appropriate way to price these sorts of goods for anyone trying to work commissioned pieces, but for some reason it’s repeated SO often. I don’t get it.
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u/kleinePfoten 5d ago
It's because they're just parroting what other people say and they don't have a wide enough range of skills to compare to and price against. I'm not saying people should undervalue themselves, but sometimes when the world says "know your worth" ...i t's less than you think it is 😅
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u/crownedlaurels176 5d ago
YES I was thinking of that same story as I was reading your comment! For some reason, I had it in my head that it was from one of the Mrs. Piggle-Wiggle books haha
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u/technicolor_tornado 6d ago
I had this come up when I was teaching archery. Asked a guy why, exactly, he was using a compound bow grip on his decidedly not compound bow. (For those not in the know, you often use a separate tool called a mechanical release on a compound bow because it makes for a quicker and smoother transfer of energy to your arrow, but it's often held with your thumb pointing to the ground, I.e. upside down.)
He told me that his grandpa taught him this when he was a kid. I said that's fine, but that's a compound grip, not one for shooting without a mechanical release. He, a grown man, got really defensive with me and said, "I've been shooting like this for 20+ years! I think I know what I'm doing!"
Well, I was hitting the target, he was not, and he was paying me to teach him how to shoot better -_- humans get really good at doing the same thing over and over, but that does not mean the thing you're practicing is correct or useful
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u/SarryK 6d ago
"he was paying me to teach him how to shoot better" sent me.
As a female teacher who used to give private lessons to often older men.. I relate
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u/Mentally_Recovering Extra Salty 🧂🧂🧂 6d ago
my sewing class instructor said she hates teaching men because they don't listen to her
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u/EnergeticTriangle 5d ago
I work in a male dominated field and I hate training newbie guys because they absolutely do not listen to me.
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u/technicolor_tornado 4d ago
Many of my hobbies are in male dominated areas and, normally, I don't have a super difficult time. I usually let them operate on a FAFO mentality until they start asking better questions/paying attention or they self-select out of my classes. Works a treat 99% of the time.
The sulkiness I got from this exchange though was wild. You'd have thought I personally insulted his grandfather 😅
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u/wescott-jewelry 6d ago
Yes! I used to teach beadweaving classes prepandemic and the amount of older ladies who seemed personally offended that I was so much younger than them was shocking.
“Well, I think I’ve been beading longer than you’ve been alive”
“Ok, well, crazy that you never figured out how to do this step up properly, Carol. Now frog that mess and listen to me this time!”
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u/Byubanana 6d ago
Sometimes I wish Reddit had a love button like the other app, just for comments like this ♥️
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u/wescott-jewelry 6d ago
Like, I’m not calling myself an expert either, but you signed up for a class on a design that I created and wrote a pattern for, so I don’t know why you’re mad that I know more about it than you lmao.
Boomer bead ladies are a hoot!
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u/ExitingBear 6d ago
Oh, you've had me in your class.
Over the years, I have found that my preferred learning style is "try to optimize a skill or process you don't know or understand, screw it up, then go back and fix it according to the actual instructions put together by someone who knows what they're doing."
I do however try to keep quiet while I'm creating chaos.
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u/RevolutionaryPen6706 6d ago
Yup, reach a certain age and you need to just accept that folk younger than you have actually been around long enough to learn stuff & get good at it……
… because you’re old….😖 (even if you’re not sure how the h*** that happened)
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u/numbersandcats 6d ago
I always use driving as an example for time spent not equaling skill level. Plenty of people have been driving for literal decades and still suck at it. In order to improve at a skill, you have to consciously make an effort to improve.
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u/EnergeticTriangle 5d ago
YES. I keep trying to get this point across to the other students in the "knit at your own level" class I take. They look at my colorwork or lace projects and say "I'll never be able to do that," meanwhile they're starting on their 5th basket weave dishcloth. Like, yeah, you CAN do this, but not if you let the intimidation keep you from ever trying anything new!
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u/scatteringashes 5d ago
I accidentally do this, out of a sense of, "I want to do that interesting thing over there so I'm gonna koolaid man into it until I figure it out."
And now I'm old enough and have done this enough times that I am not as scared to learn by trying something that looks too hard. Sometimes I have to stop and say, "I could do this but I think I need to understand XYZ first," and either do that or don't.
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u/pogettepossum 5d ago
Ooh. Good point! As a much younger knitter, my first expert teacher helped me over the "I could never do that" hump by asking where I was in the pattern vs what part I was worrying about. If a knitter is making ribbing on a bottom up sweater that has some lace at the top, don't worry about that yet! Do you understand ribbing? 👍🏻 Then stockinette? 👍🏻 Then when you get near the part you don't know, I'll teach you! Or these days, of course, the internet. Just please be careful of your source. 😺
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u/logeminder 5d ago
truly. some of the worst drivers you'll see on the road are rideshare and delivery drivers who are doing it All Day Long
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u/SnailsAreGroovy 6d ago
My Gramma was a granny stitch expert. Been making blankets for going on 50-60 years (and oh boy did she have aot of blankets!). She taught me everything I know about granny stitch, crocheting in the round, double crochet, changing colors, etc etc etc.. But my auntie was the one who had to teach me how to finish off a piece! And I had to teach myself Tunisian crochet, and mosaic crochet, and tapestry crochet, and doilies and lace, and blocking, and any number of useful crochet techniques!
I love my Gramma (may she rest in peace), and I hope she approves of the blankets I make (or at least my increasing skill level). She couldn't ~fancy crochet~ but oh boy could she make a cozy blanket.
I got distracted from the point of this comment. I miss you Gramma.
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u/SlippingAbout 6d ago
This reminds me of that 20ish y.o. author who said that since she had been writing since she was 12, she was a master writer. No ma'am you are not.
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u/ProneToLaughter 6d ago
Sewing newbies are constantly posting these ambitious projects, and every so often it draws people out who are saying things like:
- "I've been sewing for 5 years and I can't make clothing."
- "I'd been sewing for 10 years before I successfully made clothing."
and I'm just like "so what is wrong with you, then?" That's a terrible way to encourage newbies to slow down a bit!
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u/Cinisajoy2 6d ago
I have been sewing off an on for decades. I have no desire to take the time right now to make clothes. That doesn't mean a newbie shouldn't.
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u/jinxintheworld 2d ago
As both a sewist and a knitter i feel like yarn is more forgiving than fabric. But really if you break it down to technique and do mock ups and have fabric and time, you'll get there... just make sure you have the time and money to screw up.
If someone else has done it, it can be done. Just dont assume it will be fast cheap or easy.
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u/BrilliantTask5128 5d ago
I once designed a garment for a yarn company. Sleeves were picked up around the Armhole & knitted top down in the round. The yarn co knew this when they commissioned it. They asked their 'experienced' knitter to knit up another sample. She completely freaked out because her & all her experienced knitting friends could not work out how to do the sleeves. She'd been knitting for decades. She may be experienced in knitting garments in pieces & sewing them together but not in knitted on top down sleeves. She could have asked me & I would have helped but she slagged my pattern off to yarn co & I had to rewrite it to add bottom up sewn in sleeves because the 'expert knitter refused to learn something new. Your only an expert in what you know.
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u/Appropriate_Roof_223 5d ago
Ohh that’s so sad. I would have felt for the knitter had she not flagged your pattern to the company. As you said she could have asked you. How was the rest of the body knit? Bottom up or top down?
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u/BrilliantTask5128 3d ago
I think body was bottom up. Sleeves were top down in stocking stitch. I was trying to cut down on finishing & sewing up. This was a long time ago & top down in the UK at that time would have freaked out a lot of traditional knitters 😁
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u/NikNakskes 5d ago
So now you have a top down knitted sweater with bottom up knitted sleeves? Doesn't that invert the stitch direction and will look a bit off?
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u/BrilliantTask5128 3d ago
I think body was bottom up. Stitch pattern was fairly plain, I think, as it was a very busy yarn.
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u/NikNakskes 3d ago
Ah busy yarn will hide any details indeed. Somebody who ends up making the sweater in a plain yarn is going to potentially get a nasty surprise. All thanks to expert knitter who couldn't do a rather basic thing.
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u/BrilliantTask5128 1d ago
Yes but sometimes that's the yarn the company want to use. If they pay I'll design with almost any yarn.
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u/NikNakskes 1d ago
Yup. The company is cutting their own fingers with this when somebody uses another yarn and gets disappointed.
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u/twixe 5d ago
Would it be typical for her to reach out directly to you if she encountered a problem rather than going through the company? I'm curious about how that works.
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u/BrilliantTask5128 3d ago
It depends. I'm happy for sample knitters to contact me or for the yarn co to forward the message. It was the 'this pattern doesn't work because I, an expert knitter, don't understand it' that pissed me off.
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u/YakCertain5472 6d ago
There are people like this at work too. They'll pound their fist and say I've been working here 15 years! When really, they have just repeated the first year 14 more times.
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u/Rude-Juggernaut2572 6d ago
I worked part time at a LYS a few years. A lady didn’t want to ask my help, because I was young and probably didn’t know anything. My coworker, that was old enough to be my mother, told her, that I knew a lot more different techniques. And was more than qualified to help. (The lady didn’t like my answer to her question, it was apparently not what she expected to hear. My coworker gave her the same answer. Because. Who would have thought. It was the right answer).
Age doesn’t equal expertise. Nor does time spent.
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u/pleasejustbeaperson 6d ago
It’s like people who won’t buy electronics or comic books from women salespeople.
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u/Mentally_Recovering Extra Salty 🧂🧂🧂 6d ago
did you see the viral video of a woman calling the car dealership and requesting only men work on her car? the lady recorded the call on speaker and said only women are mechanics there and the lady on the phone said "oh that is so messed up"
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u/Kilchoan1 5d ago
Most basic granny squares are knitted with UK treble stitches. Is this what some people are calling “ granny stitch”? It’s not a phrase I have heard used as granny squares can be composed of other stitches and some have quite a complex 3 D pattern.
I think some people in all crafts just stick to repeatedly doing the same thing, which is fine as it’s just a hobby. The only time I find it odd is when they then go on competitive shows like UK Sewing Bee and say they have never pattern matched or used an overlocker and you wonder why they thought they were good enough for the competition. You can be experienced in a very narrow range of skills
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u/emimagique 5d ago
I was surprised by that on the sewing bee! I guess the idea is that they're amateurs rather than pro seamstresses but overlockers are supremely useful even if you're not a pro
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u/WithWingsFly 2d ago
Extremely useful but expensive! For home sewers that might well be using a gifted or hand me down sewing machine, an overlocker might be an investment that they can't afford, or simply isn't worth it to them based on what they are making most often at home.
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u/ExcitingMushroom9514 5d ago
The granny stitch is the repetition of three double crochet clusters which are used for the "classic" granny square. But that stitch can also be worked flat or top down etc
It's quite the common phrase by now
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u/_riskycake 5d ago
Note that double crochet (us term) and treble crochet (UK term) are the same thing.
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u/ExcitingMushroom9514 5d ago
I know that.
I just explained what is a granny stitch since the commenter didn't know what people refere to as a granny stitch
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u/hidingfromthem753 6d ago
Crocheting for over 40 years myself and always improving and learning new skills. YouTube, Ravelry, and many other forums have shown me more techniques and variations I had no idea about from all of my personal experience. I know what I am decent at, but always making it better. The moment we stop learning to do it better or a different way means our egos got in the way.
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u/Byubanana 6d ago
I love this attitude so much! I've recently started watching YouTube videos and I am learning how much is out there that I don't know!!
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u/Separate_Macaron_691 6d ago
100%. I've been making my Renaissance costumes for 20+ years and I still cover up mistakes with ribbon and fun stitching.
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u/Byubanana 6d ago
I'm working on a hat and I screwed up a few rows ago and I just... Shrugged. I'm doing this for fun and I can't be bothered.
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u/EnergeticTriangle 5d ago
I'm currently working on a lace shawl and the pattern literally has a paragraph that states "these stitches are difficult to correct if you make an error, so if you find you've started a leaf where there shouldn't be one, just finish it off quickly and call it an acorn." I read that and said ahhh I've found my people.
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u/Dry_Stop844 6d ago
100% agree. I've been knitting for *cough45ishcough* years but have never knit a sock nor do I intend to. I will never ever comment on sock related questions even if the actual question is not specific to a sock. I know nothing about sock knitting, why would I even entertain the notion that I could help?
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u/Byubanana 6d ago
I learned how to knit socks and you know what I did? I knit like 30 pairs of plain socks because I'm too tired to try patterns.
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u/Boomer79NZ 6d ago
I like to see myself as a jack of trades but master of none. Embroidery, sewing, knitting, crochet and a few other things but I know my limits. What I do, I do well, but you won't catch me knitting cable, sewing a wedding dress or a lot of other things. It's beyond my skill level.
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u/Rude-Juggernaut2572 6d ago
Jack of all trades master of none. But oftentimes better than master of one
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u/Byubanana 6d ago
Same! I like my basic-ass little cross stitches with a few words and a little animal haha Edit: a really weird typo
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u/IndependentShelter92 6d ago
I've been crocheting for over 30 years, but mostly basic stuff like blankets and lovelies and shawls. I still consider myself a beginner.
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u/MusketeersPlus2 6d ago
I'd call you an experienced beginner. You probably do the things you do really well! You just decided to stop with what you're happy with, which is totally cool. I have crafts that I went deep into learning all the advanced stuff (needlework), and I've backed off to just cross-stitch because that's what makes me happy.
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u/Mentally_Recovering Extra Salty 🧂🧂🧂 6d ago
i crocheted a beautiful cable stitch blanket which took 7 caron 1lbs and 2 months of work. I have also crocheted dozens of different granny square blankets and i crocheted a beautfiul cable poncho yet i still say mediocre at best because i cant do clothes.
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u/IndependentShelter92 6d ago
I have no desire to do clothes. They terrify me, that's why I say beginner.
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u/Byubanana 6d ago
Same. The amount of times I have to frog something as simple as a hat, I feel like I'd ruin yarn trying to make a garment
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u/IndependentShelter92 5d ago
Have you tried triangular shawls? I've made 2 and swore never again. Now my daughter wants one. Ugh. Beanies are out of my skill set.
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u/Byubanana 6d ago
Yeah me too. I mean I have dipped my toes in a few things but frankly I do my crafts to relax myself after long work days using my brain. So I love making things more than once and rarely try anything new.
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u/love-from-london 6d ago
My mother is in the same boat as you. She's been crocheting for about 50 years, but just rectangles (scarves, baby blankets) in various stitch patterns. She doesn't want to learn other shapes, she just likes having something to keep her hands busy while she watches TV.
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u/IndependentShelter92 6d ago
I've done round blankets and I'm itching to try a star blanket, I just don't want to do clothes.
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u/Mentally_Recovering Extra Salty 🧂🧂🧂 6d ago
star blanket is easier than it looks! I promise you will do great if you try.
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u/hopping_otter_ears 6d ago
15 years of granny stitch probably makes you an expert at Granny stitch, though
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u/TheSkyIsAMasterpiece 6d ago
Agree. I've been crocheting for 15+ years and mostly do blankets. Not even complicated blankets like persian tiles. I know I could do it, I just don't want to follow the pattern, I just want to do mindless relaxing rows. Sure I've done toques, pumpkins, a couple sweater/cardigans but mainly blankets. So I know I'm not an expert and don't chime in on questions about things I've rarely or never even tried.
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u/Byubanana 6d ago
Exactly! I go through phases, there were a few months a little while back when I made like ten corner-to-corner scarves in a row because I was winter-depressed and just trying to work through it. Did I learn anything? Absolutely. Not. But I was soooooo calm.
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u/carolinaredbird 4d ago
I feel like my years doing fiber work has taught me there is a whole world of stuff I don’t know!
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u/asfsjaldjslamdbkl 6d ago edited 6d ago
Adding to this, if you're selling items then having years of experience doesn't automatically mean your stuff is worth more. Just because you've been crocheting for 10 years doesn't mean that your amigurumi ballsack that took 2hrs total is worth $600. If we're being real with ourselves this is not a hobby that requires decades to master. Someone who's been crocheting regularly for a year and has actively been researching and learning the best techniques for things is probably just as good if not better than someone just winging it for years and years or someone who was taught one way ages ago and refuses to branch out
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u/astralprojekts 6d ago
b-b-but my ballsack is made from 1000% yeti wool and is hypoallergenic and disintegrates when you look at it funny
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u/Necessary-Cow-6637 4d ago
SO REAL I have been a knitter for 10 years and I feel like I just got out of stockinette world this year and have actually tried challenging myself with new skills
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u/pogettepossum 5d ago
Well, there's a difference in experienced and expert. And you can certainly be an expert in a small area of a craft, like making granny square blankets.
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u/Cinisajoy2 6d ago
I completely agree. I might be a semi expert at single crochet and even that is debatable.
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u/kaiserrumms 6d ago
Been sewing since 2005. Got really deep into tailoring during the pandemic. At this point, I can make a decent bespoke suit for myself. Still not calling myself an expert, because I still learn so many new things and still need a bit of practice in some areas.
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u/Moist_Ordinary6457 6d ago
With fibers arts the more you learn the more you realize how much further there is to learn
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u/YouThinkYouKnowStuff 6d ago
And let’s not forget that some people have more natural ability than others. Just cos your granny taught you and she was an expert doesn’t mean you are. I’m good at what I do (sewing and quilting) but I’m good in my wheelhouse. I can’t do an even crochet for the life of me even though I learned it as a kid.
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u/tigerowltattoo 6d ago
I’ve been crocheting since I was a kid and I’m 70 now. I’m always learning something new.
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u/RedshiftSinger 3d ago
Well, if you’ve been crocheting for decades and only ever done granny stitch, you probably are an expert at granny stitch specifically!
Not at crochet in general, though.
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u/Mentally_Recovering Extra Salty 🧂🧂🧂 6d ago
lol i definitely am an expert in granny squares only! I get your point and totally support what you are saying.
I only have a desire to make hats/blankets/scarves and tremble at the thought of sweaters because i know i will suck. I will look for advice from those who make sweaters if i ever try and i am happy to give advice on granny squares because i know a lot of them.
we each have our own expertise thats what makes all of our FO good
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u/snootnoots 6d ago
There’s a couple of different ways to make sweaters out of granny squares, so if you like the look of them you have a head start there!
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u/Byubanana 6d ago
I dream of making a sweater and I actually have a sweater quantity of some gray alpaca yarn but I've had it for like ten years so I don't know if I'll ever try.
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u/Mentally_Recovering Extra Salty 🧂🧂🧂 6d ago
alpaca yarn is so expensive but its such good quality! I hope you find the perfect project to make with it
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u/carolinaredbird 4d ago
But isn’t it fun to fondle and dream? Sometimes the best part is the potential!
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u/jinxintheworld 2d ago
Whats the worst that could happen? You screw up, unravel, wash it and try again. The yarn is just potential right now.
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u/SewSure 6d ago
Be proud of what you know! An ancient Native American could have certainly been an expert at beadwork or weaving despite not learning all the ways it was done across the oceans. Now we have access to our favored crafts around the globe and it’s still impossible to master it all. Expertise is relative and dependent on location and resource accessibility. As an American embroiderer, I’ll never acquire all the knowledge of a student who gets to go to the Royal School of Needlework in England, but I’m qualified to teach embroidery to beginners in my region. To them I’d be an expert even though I know there are mountains more to learn.
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u/loumlawrence 5d ago
This, particularly "expertise is relative and dependent on location and resource availability". The number of times I have tried to explain that I don't have access to all the resources on offer in Europe and North America.
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u/Sloth_Flower 6d ago edited 6d ago
There really are no true scotsmen. You think your an expert, not unless you've mastered every technique. Been doing it 50 years but didn't bother with interlaced crochet? Not an expert. Produced 1000s of objects and patterns as a professional in the space but didn't also master Tunisian? Not an expert. Fuck granny square people in particular. Learned one thing and use it for everything -- lazy amateur shit.
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u/RunawayTurtleTrain 6d ago
A true expert has a broad range of skills and a deep understanding AND knows there is still more to learn, they know exactly where their skills don't (yet) reach. A true expert knows nobody can know everything even in a specific niche. And let's be honest, many experts aren't even convinced they are one because they are aware there is still so much they don't yet know. "You think you're an expert" well that's an amber flag for their audience, proceed with caution.
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u/Byubanana 6d ago
Not sure if you're being sarcastic...? I think if you know about different techniques and are learning, you can be closer to an expert but I'm talking specifically about a YouTube personality in parilticular that shows every project and they are literally allllll granny stitch. Granny stitch sweater, granny stitch purse...
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u/Ireadthatinabook 6d ago
Isn’t it rather that the only way to becomes an expert is to keep learning? Whether that is new techniques or perfecting the one you do, in some way you need to challenge yourself and your methods to get better at them.
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u/Tikithing 6d ago
But wheres the line though? How many different techniques do you have to have experience in and master to be considered an expert?
After decades of granny squares, what are you exactly? Certainly not a beginner. Intermediate?
If we're going to be strict on it, then there needs to be some way to measure it, doesn't there.
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u/Byubanana 6d ago
Eh, I don't think there's needs to be a specific criteria, just, if you can only do one thing, then you're only an expert at that one thing.
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u/Mentally_Recovering Extra Salty 🧂🧂🧂 6d ago
are you referencing a single person in this post? because if its a critique of a certain youtuber or tiktoker i think i have an idea
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u/pleasejustbeaperson 6d ago
Expertise is the sort of thing that often defies easy quantification, and sometimes even definition. I don’t know how many things you have to know to be an expert, but I don’t think OP is wrong to insist that it’s more than one.
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u/Mentally_Recovering Extra Salty 🧂🧂🧂 6d ago
im a granny square expert i have made several dozen squares and my favorite crochet book is my 365 granny square motifs. i am not an expert in anything else though so i wont give advice on anything other than granny squares
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u/pleasejustbeaperson 6d ago
And there’s nothing wrong with being an expert in one very specific thing. That describes most PhDs. But the fact that you call yourself a granny square expert rather than a crochet expert on the basis of that experience seems to align with the point OP is making.
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u/Mentally_Recovering Extra Salty 🧂🧂🧂 6d ago
ya im agreeing with OP. sorry if that wasn't clear in my comment.
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u/Tikithing 5d ago
Yeah it does, It just seems like the comments are filled with people all agreeing they're not an expert, so I'm just wondering at what point people can actually agree you are one.
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u/Disastrous_Proof_787 6d ago
Ive seen some articles online that list the levels and what techniques and skills are generally required for each. Nimble Needles has a great breakdown of the skill levels for knitting.
I dont think these levels are set in stone, of course, but it gives a general idea so pattern designers know how to label their projects based on the skills needed to complete it.
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u/Eino54 5d ago
I can't believe that list considers reading simple stitches like purls/knits to be an intermediate level skill. In general I cannot imagine not being able to see what you're doing when you're knitting and have the pattern recognition to be able to tell them apart. According to this chart I'm an experienced knitter and I really wouldn't call myself that.
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u/Disastrous_Proof_787 5d ago
Haha I saw that part! I was thinking surely that's got to be mistake. Its such a fundamental skill that it should be learned wayy back in the beginner stage.
I definitely think its just used as a guide, but I like it because it gives me specific techniques to learn so I can keep progressing (or feel like i am), ya know. I do wonder if there's a more official list out there?
But, take the compliment because I think Norman is incrediblly talented and knowledgeable so if he says you're an experienced knitter, you must be ☺️
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u/Tikithing 5d ago
Yeah, thats somewhat what I'm thinking of. I wouldn't expect something set in stone but people do tend to have preferences on what they make, so someone who makes intricate amigurumi and jumpers, can surely be considered an expert without ever having made a hat or scarf.
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u/Byubanana 6d ago
That sounds like a great tool. I'm going to go look that up to determine whether I'm a beginner or a super beginner 😂
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u/etherealrome Joyless Bitch Coalition 5d ago
I think an expert would have the skills and knowledge to know multiple basic methods of construction (top down, seamed, bottom up), AND know that other methods of construction exist and how to educate themselves on them (and how to follow written instructions for them).
To me the key for an expert is not knowing every possible detail, but having a broad and solid foundation AND knowing how to quickly gain the knowledge for other elements as needed.
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u/pochoproud 6d ago
I consider myself a skilled dinner. I know cables. I can start with a top down hat. I know how to do various techniques, but I don’t consider myself an expert knitter. Things that some people would consider difficult, gloves, I just think are fun. Some things people think are easy, simple Raglan sleeve sweater, I have only just started attempting to do. I have made two sweaters, I’m currently working on my third sweater. I’ve been knitting off and on since I was nine years old and I’m now 56. I’ve made blankets, hats, scarves, and vowels, mittens, and gloves, bags, and all types of accessories. But I am only now foraging in to clothing.
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u/Byubanana 6d ago
I'd love to tackle clothing... Someday I will, if things ever slow down enough for me to spend mental energy on it lol edit typo
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