A New Way to Look at Mistakes

I now have a rhythm to my sweater. I’ve come to terms with the likelihood that I will probably not finish my sweater by March 18th, the last KAL meeting. As much as I would have loved to have finished a sweater in a month, a lot of things are going on, and sometimes while I wish all I could do is knit… that’s not the case.

Why I Missed Week’s Knit Along

This past week I didn’t go to the KAL. My mom had a procedure so of course I visited her in the hospital. We’re very close and I recently taught her how to knit. So, I decided we’d have our own knit along. She’s a good student and very determined to finish her scarf. She has been working on it for a while, it’s her first project: a simple scarf. She has gotten “crafty” as I like to call it, increased some stitches, done some yarn overs, as every beginner does, but no matter what, I’m very proud of her.

Learning From My Student

One of the things I love about how she has taken on knitting is that she has made it fun.  When she makes a mistake, she doesn’t get upset or frustrated. For instance, when she purls instead of knits, or when she twists her stitches, she simply says “Oh, I have been wanting to do that for a while.”  She embraces her mistakes as design elements. I think that’s something us knitters and crocheters forget. It’s not the end of the world if it’s not perfect, you have made it by hand and with love, there have to be some design elements (that’s what I now like to call mistakes).

Avoiding the UFO

I was afraid I might be procrastinating but the time I spent instead of going to the KAL was really important to me. Still, I have to finish and I cannot let this sweater become another UFO. The encouragement of all of you reading this and the need to keep up with a group are spurring me on. I’m off to knit!