Look How Far We've Come

Every so often, I think back to how I felt about knitting when I first learned how to knit. I especially remember feeling frustrated when I had to frog an entire project, because I did not know how to rip or tink. For the past three years, I have let my Branching Out scarf sit in No Man's Land, because I got so annoyed at the pattern and my constant errors. I distinctly remember writing a post about how I was going to live with the errors in the scarf and chalk them up to "Design Elements." Ha! I am a perfectionist. What on earth made me think that I would believe my errors were design elements? Of course, as soon as I wrote that post, I stuffed this project in the back of my WIPs drawer.

The scarf stayed dormant until last Friday. I decided I needed to finish it and get on with my life. I figured that I needed to push through some of my current WIPs, so I could move on to other projects. (I recently got into spring cleaning mode and organized all of my planned projects - very daunting let me tell you. Thus, I realized that I need to finish some of my current projects so I have room to store new WIPs.) Anyway, I ripped back the entire project and recast on. I came to grips with my OCD and decided that I could not live with the "serious errors" of the beginning knitter that I was when I first tried this pattern. Oh my goodness. How do I describe this project today? It is easy. Granted, there is a bit of thinking, but it is far easier now that it was three years ago. I just am just plowing through it. Do I make mistakes? Yes, but I am able to tink back a row and fix the error quickly. This project is not frustrating like it was the first time I attempted to knit it. In four days, I finished half of the scarf! Plus, I can see myself knitting this scarf again in different yarns and colors, because it is a fun pattern. Craziness.

Here is hoping that this new love for a hated project vibe continues when I restart Odessa. ::shudder::