Earlier this week I was talking to a fellow knitter about my introduction to the wonderful world of spinning. One thing we have found, we agreed, is that beyond a certain point, the less you read the better.
Obviously you want to do enough research to learn the basics of what you are trying to accomplish. But beyond that point, you tend to get into fuzzier areas of personal opinion, or strong advocacy for things that really make no difference to the final product. People insist a lot of things, but most of those things are just not going to be noticeable.
The only way to get better at a craft is to do it. You can't read yourself into being a better knitter or sculptor or painter. It's tempting to think so, though, partly because it's so much easier to read than to do. And your early experience tricks you into thinking that research is valuable, because the research you do in the first phase of learning a craft DOES make a big difference. But there is definitely a point of diminishing returns.
I also see a lot of people get bogged down by research because they hesitate to just wade in and start. The eternal researching helps keep them from having to try (and risk failing). This reluctance to get started is understandable, but the only way to get through it is to put down the book, close the browser window, and just start.
If you think about it, risk aversion is a pretty silly thing when it comes to crafts. I know that I often am reluctant to knit with a particular skein of yarn because it's "too nice," or I don't want to buy a particularly nice bit of roving because I'm "too inexperienced." But let me tell you something, the Crafting Police will not lock you up if you fail. So get out there and get started!
Image courtesy Flickr/Tania Ho
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