Yuk!

Bonbon didn't cross the finish line over the weekend. A few stupid errors slowed things down but I tried to correct them in a more creative way than by simply tinking back...

• I made yarn overs when missing a stitch (or three - 2 times!)

I checked the numbers in the clean copy of the pattern in the magazine to discover the markings on my working copy had me reading numbers wrong.

I slipped the work around the circs and changed slipped stitches to knits and knit stitches to ones that were supposed to be slipped.



I see all of these attempts as little triumphs. I'm trying to grow up a bit with my knitting - challenge myself to move beyond the basic techniques I've already mastered years ago. As the subtitle of this blog indicates - I'm trying to catch up to the incredible knitters that I've discovered through blogland. (A good example of this would be young knitters who list "Venezia" in their completed lists - Glenna and Erin both spring to mind, both of whom have been knitting for less than 5 years?!!)

To get to that level I will have to work beyond my usual area of comfort.

I once thought holding the needles, throwing the yarn and consistent tension was all I really needed and for years I did a lot of enjoyable knitting with nothing more than that but I'm now seeing those skills as but the tip of my very own knitting iceberg.

Approaching problems from different angles jars me out of old habits. Errors help me learn, especially if I remember proven new solutions as I move forward.

I also need to anticipate and react more efficiently to problems. I shouldn't just knit blindly along with my mind wandering around while my hands work independently of any real supervision.

Pattern and chart reading are both areas of extreme danger for me as well because I read things too quickly and often miss critical directions as a result.

That's probably why the lure of spinning and weaving are relatively* easy for me to ignore - although they certainly strike a major chord with the fibre lover and craft nut in me - I want to get deeper into knitting and really be able to feel I could nail any project that might tempt me.

And speaking of sticking with one thing - this project has taken me back to something I used to be very good at - project monogamy. There were a couple of times yesterday when I would have jumped to another less irritating set of needles and yarn had I not promised myself to stick only to Bonbon until its completion.

Knitting time looks good tonight and the decreases are going to take me into the collar so each round will soon be getting much shorter and hopefully quicker.

*spinning with a drop spindle, however, admittedly seems like something that will ultimately HAVE to be tried sooner rather than later and my recent realization that looms come in table top sizes might open up another massive can of worms!