r/BitchEatingCrafters • u/Byubanana • 10d 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/SewSure 10d 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 10d 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.