I wouldn't want anyone to think, even for a second that I'm a perfectionist... because I'm not. Things don't have to be perfect to be beautiful. (If you're knitting for me in the Rowanette Exchange this year, please do not worry about perfect. It doesn't have to be perfect to be beautiful and loved.)
The reason that I have to rip back knitting when I do see a problem is something much more deep-rooted. In my family, we were taught to value effort as much as results. If you've tried your best, it didn't really matter if you did well or poorly. Heaven help you if you didn't try, no matter how well you did! It's just against my nature to not correct a known problem, when I could... it would be like I didn't try my best. If you've ever seen Ang Lee's Wedding Banquet, the scene when the son makes outrageous demands for the perfect women for him to the matchmatcher ... tall, opera singing Chinese girl with 2 Phds and speaks 5 languages, you would know that, that is SO not my family.
My 3rd grade teacher* once wrote on my report card that I could make more of an effort in writing. This landed me in a whole heap of trouble. What my teacher hadn't really appreciated was that, my immigrant parents did not speak English at home. My failure to conjugate properly was more related to not speaking English at home (Chinese verbs are not conjugated) as opposed to lack of effort. I supposed if I was made of less sterner stuff I would had retreated into my shell never to emerge again, but it made me ever so determined to never have anyone accuse me of not making the effort... so there you have it... scarred for life from a report card from when I was 8 years old ..
So, naturally, I ripped back and fixed the misplaced chevron...and I now have 2 socks. Not perfect, but with a flaw that I had noticed and corrected with minimal effort.
Getting an interesting and arty photograph was a challenge. How do you photograph socks on your feet without a tripod and without your legs acquiring the circumference of that of a baby elephant**? Working against the setting sun ....
* My elementary school teachers obviously had a huge impact on me. It's been 2-3 decades, but I can still remember all their names (1st Grade Ms Jensen, 2nd Grade Ms Muster, 3rd Grade Mrs O'Dwyer, 4th Grade Miss Rich, 5th Grade Mr Bandel, 6th Grade Mrs Lenders). I also remember Mrs Sommers, who ran the after-school program, Miss Werner, who taught us French for 2 hours a week and the principal, Mr Levine.
** You know, from Bridget Jones: The Edge of Reason - legs like a baby giraffe.
Ok, so they're not perfect, you're not perfect. but you certainly rip out errors that I wouldn't bohter with. But then I wasn't scarred for life by my teachers either.
Posted by: Wanda at May 25, 2008 07:15 AMI had Miss Rich in 5th grade! She was fantastic!! (But probably a different Miss Rich from yours...)
Posted by: Meg at May 23, 2008 05:33 AMI think the socks are lovely. I think it also has to do with not being lazy. I also don't like to see a mistake, even if no one else can, but I can be lazy, and that side of me will (often) win out over the mistake averse side. And my teachers had a big impact on me as well. Just a little phrase here or there, a thumbprint for life. Good things as well as negative. Once a dance teacher took me aside after a beautiful performance that we had both just seen and whispered, (apropos of nothing) "you could do that." For the first time I felt like, maybe, I could.
Posted by: larissa at May 22, 2008 10:35 PMOh yes, I can remember all the teachers I've ever had, too. And the ones that were unfair are the ones I remember best! Like the fourth grade teacher who made me stay after school because I was new (we had just moved there) and was behind on a project that most of the class was close to finishing. I can still see that whole classroom plain as day...
Posted by: Beth S. at May 22, 2008 08:32 PMTeachers don't realise the long-term effect theycan have on pupils' lives..... I can remember the names of my primary and secondary school teachers too (but cannot remember where I have put my nail scissors, which I am currently looking for!).
Posted by: Jill at May 22, 2008 11:19 AMBeautiful socks Polly! Funny about your primary school teachers I still remember mine too. When I was 11 my teacher wrote 'she gets far to easily upset over trifles' how right she was I still do. Teachers can be quite prophetic!
Posted by: Jacinta at May 22, 2008 10:10 AMBeautiful socks! And I give you A+ for effort!!!
I photograph socks in my window-sill, and am always highly amused by the thougth of people accidentially looking up when walking by, seeing this crazy obviously pregnant woman standing in weird bent posititions taking pictures of the socks on her feet... ;)