Never Ignore a Mistake

Humans make mistakes. Inevitably. At school. At work. At home.

Given that sweaters, afgans and even socks have hundreds and thousands of loops, knots, yarnovers and irregular combinations of same, knitters make mistakes.

I learned something valuable about fixing mistakes from knitting. .

Mistakes appear at different times. Sometimes you know right away. Sometimes you don't notice for a long time. Mistakes happen at the beginning, middle or end of a process. Sometimes they hide until the project is (supposedly) finished.

When you find a mistake, my first bit of advice is to admit it. Especially to yourself. Even if it turns your stomach, turns your blood to ice or gives you a headache. Do NOT castigate yourself or whip up a frenzy of shame and humiliation. Calm yourself and tell Panic to go away.

First, figure out what went wrong.

• dropped stitch?
• twisted stitch?
• purled instead of knitted or vice versa?
• wrong increase or decrease?
• erroneous knitting of a yarn over?
• read from the wrong part of the pattern?

Figure out what it will take to fix the mistake as soon as possible. With most projects you'll notice before the object is finished and off the needles.

Sometimes, with a steady hand and a crochet hook, one can drop a single line of stitches, fix the wayward one and pick the stitches back up.

Other times, when the pattern is very complex, you just need to rip back. It might feel like starting over.

Rarely, the best solution is "cosmetic surgery." The Yarn Harlot figured a way to stitch over a cable that went in the wrong direction... which meant she did not have to reknit the whole front of the sweater AND the error was nearly invisible.

Take the time to figure out what went wrong.

I make more mistakes when I

• am tired
• am in a hurry
• do not adequately prepare
• try short cuts
• forget the real purpose and value in what I am doing

The problem with not fixing mistakes is that you always know where they are, AND that your integrity, pride, craftsmanship or whatever was insufficient to make the end result the best you were able to produce.

It is humbling to admit error. It can be embarrasing to do what it takes to fix it.

It is better than wondering

• "Who's going to notice?"
• "What will they think?"
• "What will happen next?

the sooner you rip back, the sooner you get back on track

Got Gauge?

"Knit a swatch to make sure you are knitting to gauge."

Aside from a few folks who make dish- or wash- cloths from their swatches, I don't know many people who really like to make gauge samples.

If you GET gauge, there's the belief that you'd have already "gotten somewhere" if you had just started your project. A baby sweater might be equivalent to the swatch you need for a linebacker's fisherman knit. The urge to skip swatching is especially strong as Fall approaches and people realize they have impossibly long lists of knitted gifts to make before year's end.
If you do NOT get gauge, there is a period of high anxiety coupled with multiplication, fractions and proportions during which you decide how to alter the pattern to get the size and drape of knitting you and the pattern-designer had in mind.

Another way to talk about gauge is "tension." Everyone sees to have their own normal level of tension that is normal and works for them. My knitting gets overly loose if I am falling asleep while purling. It tightens up if I am watching Fright Night on the tube, or if I
am riled up about something.


In life, like knitting, it is important that you work at your natural, "best" tension level. I call my best tension level "alert" or mindful. I respond quickly and easily to my sensory intake. I think clearly, avoid most errors, correct them as quickly as possible and am satisfied with the results.

What does it take for you to be at your ideal tension level?

Eyeore and the Blues

A friend of me confessed she was feeling like Eyeore because she'd been in the (very large, very tidy) home of a friend to watch her children for her.

Now, I must confess that I have felt the same way at my local hand knitting guild. The Finished Objects these people display!!

Some of them must have Platinum accounts at the most exotic yarn shops, or stock in Rowan and Debbie Bliss. Others have more hours in the day than I do, and certainly fewer hours requiring the use of their eyes and hands doing anything besides knitting.

As it happens, I have never knit a Kaffe Fassett sweater.



Nor have I ever knit a Fair Isle sweater. I hope to, but it hasn't happened yet.




(This blog is lessons FROM knitting, not lessons IN knitting, okay?)

Feeling BLUE can be informative, though most people find it unpleasant.
For me, the bad part about feeling Blue is having to listen to the Nasty Little Voice of depression. The NLV is almost ALWAYS saying:

• I wish I hadn't stopped myself from trying that.
• I could have done it if I had kept fear out of the driver's seat.
• I wonder if I'm not as good/smart/valuable/(etc, ad infinitum) and the person who did it.

I can silence the NLV. by:

• finishing a project that I have in the works -- like those cabled and lace socks in the WIP drawer.
  
• finding a new one that is exciting and starting it -- Oooh, there's a lace knit along and a log cabin knit along. What fun!
• thinking about something completely different.

Perhaps you would prefer to avoid the Eyeore experience in the first place?
It is really quite simple.

Do not compare yourself to others.

Think about all the inner conversations that would come to a standstill if there were nothing to compare yourself to. For that matter, think of all the debate, arguments and outright disagreements you could avoid with OTHER people by refusing to compare or be compared.

When a project is NOT finished

I got a lot of knitting done today.

• More than I expected because of a LONG wait before an appointment.
• The good news is that I have now finished the back of the sweater I'm making. One piece finished and 3 more to go. Not to mention the sewing up and blocking.
• It occurs to me: I AM PROUD OF MYSELF! When you get to a significant benchmark and want to celebrate, CELEBRATE! And when you are ready, re-start your engine and get back to work.

If your life went as smoothly as your knitting, what would you choose to do?
The Knitting Coach would be glad to help you get started... "swiftly"

After a project is finished

I forget that even though I have now knit TWO cabled Fisherman type sweaters, (and many fancy scarves, a jacket, and socks, socks, socks!) there's no guarantee that the next project will go smoothly.

The first fisherman was naively knit in acrylic (OMG... but it was the 60's!!) Like the sister in the Tale of the Seven Swans, I tried to knit a protective spell for the then love of my life and bane of my mother's existance. I don't know if he wore it much, but it fit. It was beautiful, and heaven knows it was probably indestructible. (More so than he was. According to Ancestors.com I've outlived him.)

The second fisherman was knit for my son. I still don't know why I waited until "the baby" was over 6 feet tall to do a hand knit for him. It needs the cuffs to be "tightened" and even in Indiana said son says it is too warm to wear. It is in Bliss' Cashmerino Aran and is divine. If I don't see evidence of it being worn, or get it in the mail to fix the cuffs, I may ask for it back and wear it at night!

Anyway-- Even though you might have accomplished something very challenging -- such as a cabled sweater, or getting a raise, or surviving one form or another of cancer, grief or natural disaster, it doesn't mean that there won't be more challenges ahead.




Wouldn't it be nice if a challenge in the past acted like a vaccine against future trials?

But it doesn't. I nearly went bats learning the Arrowhead Lace pattern. I mumbled unpleasant incantations while knitting face cloths of all things. Well, they WERE lace and used size 2 needles. And then there's the brioche stitch swatch to the right... and there were INSTRUCTIONS for that.

In real life, when you see the next challenge has arrived, brought new baggage but no instructions it, and acts like it's sticking around for a while, take a deep breath, pace yourself andget to work.

First apply what you already know. It might be enough!
If that doesn't work, what do you need to know? I went to my local yarn shop when in the throes of the Arrowhead Lace and whined to the resident expert. All she did was ask one powerful question: "What happens on the row before?" When I got home to my knitting, focusing my attention there clarified the whole pattern, even with its repeats!

Always,

• remember to avoid sleep deprivation,
• ask for help when you are repeating your same mistakes,
• remind yourself that it isn't an emergency, and
• that you can take another crack at it in the morning.

If you'd like a powerful question to clarify a challenge, contact me!

Knitting Lessons

How to begin?

When I begin a knitting project there has always been some inspirational seed that was planted previously. It might be a gorgeous color, or fiber, or pattern, or even some fad that I wanted to be a part of. It might EVEN be a matter of need or practicality.

So sometimes the beginning happens even before I begin.
So, if I have an idea of what I want to end up with, and I have the yarn, and, yes--have knit a gauge swatch-- there is still the matter of how to begin.

There are 4 cast-on methods that I actually know how to do. There are several more that I know about, but have never tried.

For this project, I decided to "just do it" and use what to me is the quickest.

Sometimes it's just fun to make a lot of progress and do what you know how to do.

It's OK if it doesn't immediately resemble what you hope it will. Can YOU tell what this will be?


















And it's also OK to just love little bits and pieces of what you do. I have some concerns that the finished fabric will be a little clingy... and am ignoring them for now because I love the interplay and randomness of the very short color changes in this yarn.