Met my friend on Sunday afternoon and spent 2 hours together knitting. One of the things I'm enjoying about this project is the exercise in metacognition -- thinking about my thinking. Here are my reflections on this exercise in creativity:
1) The act of knitting felt completely foreign and awkward. I had difficulty holding the needles appropriately, making stitches, keeping up with the skein of yarn, etc. During all of this I was reflecting on our reading on neuroplasticity. My brain had to be changing! I surely must be laying new neural paths!
2) As suggested in our readings, it really is difficult to effectively problem solve without a solid foundational understanding of the area you're engaged in. For example, I kept adding stitches. I started out with 30 and was up to 42 on my last count! How could this be happening??? I really have absolutely no idea what I'm doing, or how to correct it, as I still have such limited understanding and experience with all of this.
3) Despite my seemingly intense concentration on what I was doing, the repetitive motions really did allow my mind to wander. I was impressed that my meager little brain could, indeed, have two completely separate "conversations" going on!
4) If I wait for my ideal "creative environment," I will NEVER, EVER, EVER engage in a creative skill consistently. Quiet time, a space free of extraneous noise and distraction, where I can reflect on what I'm doing...this is my ideal environment to get creative. Alas, my current life just does not consistently provide this! I've got to be able to do something with small children running around me.
All of this brings me up to today. HOW CAN I HAVE COMPLETELY FORGOTTEN HOW TO DO SOMETHING I LEARNED JUST TWO DAYS AGO???? I admittedly did no knitting yesterday and sat down tonight and have no idea how to do it!!!! Back at square one. My friend is bringing me by her 6 year old daughter's book and I'm hoping to get back on track. As research suggests, you clearly must practice a skill intensively and repeatedly before it becomes automatic.
You've got more stick-to-itiveness than I when it comes to knitting (believe it or not). I learned how to knit. Sort of. I could probably have told you once upon a time how to start a scarf, but please don't ask me how at this point. I might be able to stitch a few loops (making up terminology, I think). But I never learned how to finish. Not only (knot only?) am I unable complete the scarf, I never learned how to finish what I've started (when it comes to knitting).
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