26A- Celebrating Failure

1) Earlier this semester, my nephew was born and I decided I wanted to learn how to knit. My great grandmother used to knit all of the newborn babies their very own hand knitted blanket, and when she died, unfortunately so did that tradition. When I met my nephew for the first time I fell in love and I felt if someone in the family didn't pick up this tradition again, he would be cheated, and all the new babies in our families future would be as well. So I went to the craft store and I picked out some needles, and some yarn- I had absolutely no idea what I was doing. Beginning to learn the steps of knitting was frustrating and I had to put the project down and revisit it at least 10 times before I picked it up. The learning process didn't stop there. Once I realized what my preferred knitting needles were and which types of yarn I liked I thought I was set. That was until I royally screwed up the blanket that I worked so diligently on for my nephew. It was uneven, it had holes... I was not proud of it and I refused to gift it. After a few days to decompress from that frustration I decided to try again and I completed a beautiful blanket. It took me countless tries, hundreds of hours, and patience but the feeling I got once I finally had it down pat was incredible.

2) This experience honestly taught me a lot because I realized that I can do anything I set my mind to, and although I may not get it on the first try, it will eventually click. Because of my failures I am a better knitter, because I know what not to do. This can be stretched to entrepreneurship. You will fail. That is a given, but it's what you do with that failure. Embracing failure, and getting back up again is a crucial skill to learn.

3) This class hasn't necessarily changed my perspective on failure but rather reiterated what I already believe. Yes, failure is hard and can be embarrassing at times. But things that are worth while don't come automatically- If it were easy everyone would do it.

Comments

  1. Brianna GregorioApril 16, 2020 at 4:40 PM

    Hi Skylar! This is so so special! I became an aunt earlier this semester as well, so this was very touching and I found it to be very thoughtful. My grandma knits for us and you have inspired me to now learn. No better time to learn something new than right now!! Anyway, I liked this post a lot and I am glad you followed through and were able to make a beautiful blanket for your nephew!

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  2. John DillonApril 17, 2020 at 6:29 PM

    Hi Skylar,

    Well done with your blog post! What a neat and special story this is- I can almost guarantee that one of the reasons it felt so good was because of all of the work that went into it. In a way, that's one of the things about any form of art that people don't often realize- that the piece didn't just come to be. It took someone (or some group of people) countless hours to create it, no matter the size. It's the unspoken things that often mean the most to us, and sometimes succeeding despite repeat failures is just that! Keep up the great work!

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  3. Veronica RosenbaumApril 18, 2020 at 10:16 AM

    Hi Skylar. It is great that you stuck with and kept trying until you were able to complete what you intended. About a year ago I had a similar experience when I tried crocheting. It definitely took a lot of work, but it feels incredible when you finally create something by yourself. I also love your reasoning behind trying to knit. This is a great post Skylar!

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  4. Ben NawyApril 19, 2020 at 1:31 PM

    Hi Skylar. First and foremost, it is really special that you kept up this tradition, something your family should be proud of. It is one thing to fail at something, and while learning from it, ultimately give up on the challenge. However, you failed countless times, and yet still put in the time and effort until you felt comfortable with your final product. Lastly, like you, while this class hasn't changed my view on failure, it definitely further proved my belief. Nice work.

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  5. Miguel LucasApril 19, 2020 at 6:20 PM

    Hey Skylar! I enjoyed the post! It was great, kind thing you did on continuing the tradition! It is pretty cool how a lot of things like using a blanket or anything in general can be used to make a motivational idea to keep putting in the effort to exceed in life. The way I see life is that our lives do not continue in a straight line but rather more in volatile line with a lot of highs and lows. It is up to the human mind if they want to continue and try to get to that high point again by taking on risks within our lives. Great work!

    ReplyDelete
  6. NslaterApril 20, 2020 at 9:38 AM

    Hi Skylar,
    It is really amazing that your nephew was born and you wanted to learn how to knit because of it. Your sheer determination is awesome. You got frustrated time and time again, but you never gave up. You always came back to it and that is how success is achieved. You wanted to do something to keep the tradition of your great grandmother alive.

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