The Intrinsic Joys of Teaching Needlework

Needlework and its myriad branches are subjects that have never failed to enthral me or to awaken the teacher, the designer and the explorer in me. I can list at least four reasons why despite being at it for well over 20 years, I still find teaching the craft captivating.

1. I enjoy the various facets of Needlework- Needlework is a very broad term given to an amazing variety of things you can design with just a bit of yarn, implements like the humble sewing needle, a pair of knitting needles, a crochet hook, an exotic tatting shuttle etc., and your fingers. Although needlework is basically categorized into freestyle embroidery, counted thread embroidery, and lace making, each of these labels have under their umbrella, an astonishing number of constantly expanding styles. For instance, crochet, knitting and tatting fall under lace making; however, within the  category of tatting fall distinct styles like Cluny tatting, beaded tatting, split ring tatting, needle tatting etc. Exploring all of these, and developing methods to help my students understand the nuances mastering them would require, are at the same time both a challenging and an extremely enjoyable experience.
2. I enjoy being part of my students' projects- Why would I enjoy being a part of other people's projects? As I've mentioned earlier, needlework is a very broad term, and if I were to try out every project that captivates my      imagination, I would have very little time to expand my horizons and learn new techniques. Therefore, I love to participate in my students projects from start to finish and to help them explore multiple ways to use a design; furthermore, the part I enjoy the most is exploring with them how different a specific design would look when worked using different design elements, classes of stitches or styles of embroidery. These exercises satiate the designer in me.
3. The more I teach the more I learn- Upon reflection, I realize that  teaching needlework has forced me to look at things from other people's point of view; mostly because, I've never had some of the doubts my students raise when I was learning the techniques myself.  In such cases, I have to first figure out why the student had the doubt in the first place, find a solution, and then add it to my repertoire of teaching techniques. In one instance, since I am right-handed, I found it difficult to address doubts raised by my left-handed students until one of them pointed out that all I had to do was use an image editing software to flip the images illustrating the instructions so I had a mirror image; I'd now have images suited for a left-handed student. At times, a student would illustrate an easier technique she had learned from her mom to work a stitch; even though I am the teacher, teaching needlework is never a one way street, for my students constantly motivate me to expand my teaching skills and to explore the use of technology in teaching needlework. 
4. Teaching needlework akin to meditation- Finally, teaching needlework and meditating have the same effect on me; in particular, it's a great stress buster because when I am teaching needlework I am so into it that for brief periods of time, everything else ceases to exist. 

The joy I get out of teaching my needlework classes is an almost addictive transcendental experience.

Paraphrasing Sample and Why I Prefer Working Directly With A Client

What's the connection between paraphrasing and why I prefer a one to one with clients? I was writing for content companies between 2007 and 2012. In my personal experience, when the turn around time is suffocatingly short, quality suffers. 

As a general rule, I put a couple of sentences of the articles I submit within quotes and Google it, to check if the articles have been posted by the buyer. Next, I check if the buyer has made made any revisions. In my experience, most buyers barely give it more than a cursory glance. Some proofread and edit it. A very small percentage use the articles as research and put their own stamp on it. No matter what they do, I am left feeling inefficient.

If no revisions have been made, the errors nag me. If the articles are edited, I feel guilty for not doing a better job. If the client makes revisions, I feel my skills were tested and found lacking, but this is the easiest to shrug off.

Click here to read the About Us Page of a website I wrote for a couple of years back. Had I been in direct contact with the client, I would have offered to edit it. You'll find my edited version of it under the subheading 'Rewrite'. The actual webpage and the 'Rewrite' prove my point.

The Reasons I Prefer a Direct Client - Writer Relationship

1.  I wrote the 'About Us Page' and all the other pages on the said website. Turn around time was 2 days. I did not work directly for this client. I wrote through a content writing company. Every time I read these pages, I wish I could write them again. 
2.  I have since realised that I don't like working through a third party.  Being a blogger myself, I have definite ideas of what I want each post to look like or to convey. When writing for a client through a third party the lines of communication between the client and the actual writer are non-existent. The end product is therefore not something either the client or a conscientious writer is totally happy with.
3. Most companies taking up bulk writing are more concerned with profits rather than quality writing. They expect writers to turn in 3-6 articles a day @ $1 or $3 dollars per 500 words. The big joke is they expect both quality and quantity and insist that doing this should be easy for a good writer. Often writers are forced to write about topics for which they have neither the interest nor the aptitude. This naturally reflects on their work.
4. The turn around time is hardly an hour. I for one can't write a well-researched article within that time frame. A well-researched article means verifying facts before writing. I don't see any point in simply rewriting content from the top 3 or so pages on the Search Engine Results Page. Isn't there enough fluff out there already?
5. It is also impossible to turn in quick error free articles. There are bound to be typos and other minor errors in the final draft. I tend to make revisions to my work as and when new ideas pop into my mind. No matter how many times I read my articles after I've written them, some errors escape my attention. But when I read them the next day, they are glaringly obvious. Over the years, I've realised that this is because, when I read an article immediately after writing it, I read it with my mind rather than with my eyes. A writer producing bulk articles can never turn in well-researched, error-free articles that also have excellent sentence structure.

That said, here's how I would have written the About Us page had I had a little more time.

Rewrite:

We are Matt Doyle and Bex Burns. We own StringItNow. Though we are based in the South of England, our services are available to everyone within the UK. We understand the significance of the dynamics between your racquet strings and your individual playing style. That’s why we proudly claim to be the best in the business.

We stock nothing but the best. Shop with us for racquet strings, grips and other equipment from leading brands like Wilson, Luxilon and Prince amongst others.  We have over 300 products of top-notch quality for you to choose from.

Place your order now. Barring unforeseen delays, we ship orders the very next business day.

Call us if you have any questions or if you need help choosing products.

Our business philosophy is “Put your customers first and they’ll put you first”.