Lessons Learned from Learning Something New

I spent most of this week knitting and starting my sweater and once again, I’m humbled by how many obstacles there are when you’re trying to learn something new.

Some of the things I kept repeating to myself this week were:

1. Mistakes are part of the learning process and it’s OK to start again - I ended up starting again a few times for various reasons. Every time I start/restart though, I try not to stay too committed to the current progress, because you never know if this is the time that will stick.

2. If the tool is not serving you, after a few tries, it’s time to try something else - I got a 40cm 5.0mm knitting needle for my collar but it was not long enough to try the magic loop method well and also not short enough for bunching the wool and I just ended up struggling with it many many times. The cord was also very difficult to wrestle with. I’m now trying another type of needle with a different cord and the difference is night and day.

3. Try it on a prototype first - the gauge I made earlier taught me a lot but now that I’m knitting in the round, I definitely am picking up and trying new skills. There’s a section of the sweater coming up that is on German Short Rows, which I’ve never done so I’m going to try that with scrap yarn first before attempting it on my existing project.

   
   

4. Tools are helpful but keep a budget in mind- A fabric measuring tape, a tapestry needle for a lifeline and a crochet hook to fix mistakes are all helpful things that I’ll be grabbing to make my life easier. Ironically as a beginner, having tools to help me will be the best but it’s also hard for me to ‘invest’ in something that I don’t know will be used long term. For me, I’m going budget for these items and try not to go too crazy with getting anything super nice since I'm not sure if I will be sticking to this long term. It's a balance between getting nicer tools and spending wisely.

   
   

5. Take breaks and don’t be too serious. This is a hobby and over doing it is never good.

   
   

Anyways, the progress continues, and I'm really proud of how far I've gotten so far!

A look at my sweater - you can see the folded collar and the shoulders forming!

March update - I'm finally done with my sweater - I love how warm it is and I 'm already working on a new sweater for my partner.

My completed first ever sweater!