It’s been a while since I wrote a post about my knitting. And that’s because the struggle is real with learning to knit. After learning to purl and knit, I have been made very little progress. I did a fair amount of practicing, tried some things that failed, and kept on knitting…expect when I was crocheting of course, but I felt as though I had reached a bit of a road block and needed to clear my head. You can read all about my misadventures in my Knitting Journey posts.
My head being cleared, I cast on a simple project. It went well, until I got to the ribbing section. I likely counted wrong which makes my two by two ribbing off count, I dropped some stitches and so my ribbing section is a bit odd and has a hole here or there. To be honest, I powered though it and didn’t bother trying to fix my mistakes because I was afraid to as every other time I tried to fix a mistake, I’d lose rows upon rows in my project.
And then I learned something about knit that I hadn’t known.
I learned about twisted stitches.
And wondered why no one had told me this. It certainly helped me understand how to read my knitting better, but also why I struggled when I had to rip back with my stitches looking funny and being harder to knit into. It’s because they were twisted!!
Where I’m Going From Here
Well, I know about twisted stitches now and I can knit two by two rib, but…I still struggle with knitting. The first few rows always do me in I feel. I cast on, knit a row or two, see something has gone wrong and have to start all over again. So I will admit to feeling very discouraged. And honestly, I don’t know where to go from here with my knitting. I do need to finish the cowl I started with the messy two by two ribbing, but I feel at a loss as to what to do next.
I think I need to try and understand knit better. There’s something about it that mystifies my mind and hands. But I plan to keep trying until I can solve this mystery.
I just don’t know where to start. Watching Youtube videos hasn’t proved super useful as for some reason, I can’t always seem to make out what they are doing. I have a couple of books I’ve referred to and some websites have proved useful, but I’ve yet to find a resource that really helps me as a knitter and a learner–because let’s face it, we are all different in how we learn and some skills it takes longer to acquire. And I feel a bit adrift.
But, I intend to keep trying. I feel as though learning about twisted stitches was a big break through for me, so I just need to stay determined and keep on knitting. Or trying to knit. And so, I’ve decided that I am just going to knit. I’m going to be super boring and make a scarf–I’ve done the first few rows in garter stitch and then I’ve switched to stockinette and I intend to just make it and simply allow my hands to get to knitting and to allow myself to get used to fixing twisted stitches and other little mistakes that might crop up.
Keep Calm and Knit On
While I knew that learning to knit wasn’t going to happen over night, I didn’t quite expect it to be as challenging as I’ve been finding it. I thought a lot of what I knew about crochet would transfer over, and while a lot of that knowledge does transfer over, it hasn’t made learning to knit easier in the way that I expected it to.
There’s nothing to do but to keep calm and knit on. I have no idea if I have ever mentioned this on this blog, but I’m an elementary school teacher, and I’ve been teaching for twenty years. And as a teacher, I know that I need to start with where I’m at as a learner. And in knitting, I’m a complete beginner. Knitters might say there’s nothing else to learn once you’ve learned to knit and purl and increase and decrease, that everything else is just a technique…but I think they are underestimating how much practice goes into learning before we can say we understand a concept or have acquired a skill. So I need to give myself some grace and just allow myself that time to practice and really acquire the skills I am going to need to be a proficient knitter.
And I intend to do that. No more rushing myself into projects I’m not ready for or giving up in frustration for biting off more than I can chew. Simple, easy knitting for now is what I intend to focus on. I’ll likely feel as though I am a knitter if I am knitting at my own ability and pace and not pushing myself into things that are currently too big for me to really tackle in the way that I want to tackle them. And I’ll have more to show for myself, which in turn will make me feel accomplished and more like a knitter.
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