Woobles

In the spirit of the new year I thought I would take on a new project. I had seen something called Woobles come across my Facebook feed, and was quite taken by their cuteness. 

A Wooble is a small, crocheted animal that is advertised for beginners. Now technically, I’m not actually a beginner to crotchet. After retiring from teaching in 2009, with the help of Chuck’s cousin’s wife Debbie I learned several of the basic stitches. 

The thing I never mastered, though, was how to read a pattern. I spent many an hour double crocheting to my heart’s content making a series of misshapen scarfs. My sweet husband even wore the scarf I made him. 

This year as I reflected on New Year’s resolutions I decided that I wanted to learn more about crocheting, and the Woobles kit looked like the perfect way to do so. 

It got rave reviews, and was geared toward beginners so I was excited when it arrived in my mailbox. As I followed the step-by-step directions on the video I found myself more and more discouraged. 

Apparently I must be a pre- beginner with no real ability to follow directions. At the moment I’ve had to start over three times, and am moving at a snail’s pace. 

Now the actual stitch, a single crotchet, is actually easy peasy. My dilemma seems to revolve around not being able to follow directions. Now, to be honest I’ve had this issue before. I rarely follow a recipe exactly, and as a teacher lesson plans were merely suggestions. 

If my life depended on assembling a Lego creation I’d basically be a goner. Over the last few days I’ve definitely contemplated giving up.

Of course, after spending the $37.00 on the kit my frugal side insists that I keep trying. 

I think about how often I’ve written about embracing new challenges, and learning from my mistakes, and I’m finding myself to be a little bit of a hypocrite.

So where do I go from here? Like I said I’ve already started over three times. Will the third time be the charm or will I have to pull everything out and start again? I guess time will tell. 

What I do know is that after watching the video three times it’s beginning to make more sense to me. In the past I’ve never been much of a “practice makes perfect” kind of gal because I rarely do anything that has to be practiced. 

I’ve streamlined my life into things I can do easily without much trouble. I’ve always admired people who are pretty much fearless when it comes to trying new things.

Perhaps my Woobles experience is a small step in the right direction of doing so.  I’ll set my completion date at December 31st if need be. No pressure!!!!

How are you approach new things that you are not good at?