Recently I have been looking into achievement and how one defines it. This lead me to looking into the term, self-efficacy. A. Bandura, arguably one of the most influential psychologists of the 20th century, defines self-efficacy as: ¨one's ability to succeed in specific situations." Research has shown (DH Schunk, 1981, WS Silver, 1995 and CS Dweck, 1975) that the attributions a person assigns to words like success or failure effects their achievement. This is not new research by any means, but it can help understand persistence when being creative. Let me use my experience with the Jelly Yarn as a case in point. It has been a journey.
When I purchased it I had a vision for the Jelly Yarn. It is meant to create a fabric dense enough to cover a knitted pancake or waffle and it needs to have drips or drizzles so it looks like it is running down the sides of said bread-like items. It needs to be somewhat circular in shape but doesn't need to be a perfect circle. So with this in mind the journey began.
Since IMO the Jelly Yarn needed to be knitted as soon as I got it I was forced to use the tools available to me in the condo. I tried two sizes of needles, US #4/3.50 cm in bamboo and US #7/4.50 cm in wood. (I don't have metal needles there because frankly they aren't one of my favorites.) The Naughty Knitterz had said to use only metal needles, but for some reason I ignored that suggestion. The result in these first couple of experiments is this, don't bother using bamboo or wood needles. The plastic yarn, unlike regular yarn, clings to these types of sticks to the point that knitting is actually painful on the finger tips. The process was so off-putting it took me a couple of days to figure out what to try next. (I persisted.)
Then it hit me, crochet the syrup! The crochet hooks I have at the condo were too small so attempt three and four were both ripped out. BTW, it is very important to remember that as the Naughty Knitterz also recommend, a square knot is needed as one starts the cast on. If one doesn't use a square knot the cast-on row quickly starts to unravel. We are now up to four fails. In Phoenix Mom had a larger crochet hook but this fifth version was not a success because the results were too big not yielding the type of fabric I wanted.
Now at home, I have access to my metal needles and found US #2/2.75 cm work for what I want. First, I thought using back and forth knitting would get the look I was after. But as you know it can be tricky to get away from a rather boxy design knitting this way, so on to attempt number seven. I am now knitting in the round using four needles. The results are in the circular shape I'm looking for. Want to see how this last attempt is working out so far? (No photos of the first six attempts, they were failures in my opinion not worth a digital image.)
The syrup is obviously not yet finished. Two sides have to have drips added and have to be bound off. It also needs to be blocked. The center is puckering upward at the moment because it is still on two needles, but I believe blocking will flatten it out. The Naughty Knitterz suggest placing something heavy on the finished item to get it into shape. Since they have been right in two other areas, I will be following that suggestion.
In the end persistence prevailed. The attribution I put to knitting failure is a lack of effort rather than categorizing the task as impossible. According to research, this would cause me to persist. One of the dynamics of trying to be creative is sometimes ideas aren't as practical or easy to accomplish as one would wish or imagine. This Jelly Yarn has been harder to work with than I would have liked but after several starts and the right combination of tools and techniques I am getting the syrup I'd pictured in my mind. And even though I have not yet completed the project, I see that it is moving in the direction I envisioned when the Jelly Yarn was purchased. Success seems be within my reach. Persistence has paid off and I am on the cusp of achieving my goal. Dang that research seems to apply to me and this case study quite well. Those scientists seem to be on to something.
When I purchased it I had a vision for the Jelly Yarn. It is meant to create a fabric dense enough to cover a knitted pancake or waffle and it needs to have drips or drizzles so it looks like it is running down the sides of said bread-like items. It needs to be somewhat circular in shape but doesn't need to be a perfect circle. So with this in mind the journey began.
Since IMO the Jelly Yarn needed to be knitted as soon as I got it I was forced to use the tools available to me in the condo. I tried two sizes of needles, US #4/3.50 cm in bamboo and US #7/4.50 cm in wood. (I don't have metal needles there because frankly they aren't one of my favorites.) The Naughty Knitterz had said to use only metal needles, but for some reason I ignored that suggestion. The result in these first couple of experiments is this, don't bother using bamboo or wood needles. The plastic yarn, unlike regular yarn, clings to these types of sticks to the point that knitting is actually painful on the finger tips. The process was so off-putting it took me a couple of days to figure out what to try next. (I persisted.)
Then it hit me, crochet the syrup! The crochet hooks I have at the condo were too small so attempt three and four were both ripped out. BTW, it is very important to remember that as the Naughty Knitterz also recommend, a square knot is needed as one starts the cast on. If one doesn't use a square knot the cast-on row quickly starts to unravel. We are now up to four fails. In Phoenix Mom had a larger crochet hook but this fifth version was not a success because the results were too big not yielding the type of fabric I wanted.
Now at home, I have access to my metal needles and found US #2/2.75 cm work for what I want. First, I thought using back and forth knitting would get the look I was after. But as you know it can be tricky to get away from a rather boxy design knitting this way, so on to attempt number seven. I am now knitting in the round using four needles. The results are in the circular shape I'm looking for. Want to see how this last attempt is working out so far? (No photos of the first six attempts, they were failures in my opinion not worth a digital image.)
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| My knitted syrup with the drips showing on top still on two of three needles |
The syrup is obviously not yet finished. Two sides have to have drips added and have to be bound off. It also needs to be blocked. The center is puckering upward at the moment because it is still on two needles, but I believe blocking will flatten it out. The Naughty Knitterz suggest placing something heavy on the finished item to get it into shape. Since they have been right in two other areas, I will be following that suggestion.
In the end persistence prevailed. The attribution I put to knitting failure is a lack of effort rather than categorizing the task as impossible. According to research, this would cause me to persist. One of the dynamics of trying to be creative is sometimes ideas aren't as practical or easy to accomplish as one would wish or imagine. This Jelly Yarn has been harder to work with than I would have liked but after several starts and the right combination of tools and techniques I am getting the syrup I'd pictured in my mind. And even though I have not yet completed the project, I see that it is moving in the direction I envisioned when the Jelly Yarn was purchased. Success seems be within my reach. Persistence has paid off and I am on the cusp of achieving my goal. Dang that research seems to apply to me and this case study quite well. Those scientists seem to be on to something.
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