Skill + 1 up- 2KCBWDAY2

Yay for Eskimimi and her awesome organizational skills to bring the2nd Annual Knitting and Crochet Blog Week to life! It runs through the 3rd of April and on each participants daily blog post through this period there will be a "tag". Today's tag is 2KCBWDAY2. By using that tag to search, you will come up with a LOT of wonderful reading on the days topic. Inspired Eskimimi! It is a lot of work and I know we all appreciate her muchly!

In looking back over my last year of projects, I am to compare my current skill level with that entry point. What have I learned? Maybe more accurately what have I NOT learned. (AGAIN).

The top of my I have not learned list:

• I still can NOT knit in the continental method. At All. And I've tried. I have decided (after many years) that I am not meant to knit this way and a "thrower" I will be!
• I still can't knit lace as well as I'd like.
• Some Patterns just don't make it very far. I wish I could knit every single project to completion but that is not to be. Some haunt me.

Like this one:

Perfectly beautiful mittens------------ the Hiroshige Mittens. That is as far as they have gotten. I love the color blue, I'm actually DECORATING my creative space with this mitten on dpn's as art! Sort of a statue to humility.

What I HAVE learned:

• I can be a junkyard dog when need be. In the past year it seems I don't have a lot to show for my knitting--- but I knit an ENORMOUS cabled cardigan, it was crappy--- I frogged it, rewashed the yarn, skeined and blocked it. And re-knit it into the current cardi I love! That my friends is some cool beans!

It's a thing I'm proud of---- sticking with a very, very long project.

• Having said that, I have a shawl that is sitting on waste yarn in the deepest darkest cubbies in the creative space that drove me crazy, was frogged 3x and I'm just OVER. Harumph. It's Damson and it goes by another name far less lovely.

• In the "lemonade" category was the little sweater I made for my Little Girl Dog. *(she's so cute!) It began life as Feather Duster and a little ways in I didn't like the color, didn't like the yarn, didn't like IT. So with a bit of alterations it is now Hana's. I'm not usually anxious to make it "do". I learned that sometimes this is OKAY!
  

• It was a year of projects that had their core in simplicity. I'm one of those work all the time people and because of that it is necessary to have projects that don't strain the brain overly much. Things that pick up, can sit down half a row in when the phone rings or a client beckons. Things that don't suffer for that abuse.
  

• Out of that came a gorgeous shawl, garter based, skinny armed triangle shaped in a beautiful vacation bought hand spun and dyed yarn. Yummy.

• I'm NOT a very good lace knitter, I admit it. But the mondo shawl for my daughter was easily accomplished with it's fat yarn and big needles.
  

• I also finished a color-work sweater from the mind of Elizabeth Zimmerman that I've always wanted to knit. It turned out beautifully and I love wearing it. I even made it in time for my vacation deadline!
  

• Another shawl, I couldn't tell you why the urge to knit them this year---- was Citron. I love this for the shape and drape.
  

• In looking back, I love to cable----- and the hat for my maybe someday daughter in law was such a fun project.
  

I think for me sometimes knowing what you HAVE NOT learned is the most important thing of all. It's a time to decide whether or not you really need to learn something or if you can let it go. Kind of like stash or a bad habit, Fish or Cut Bait honey!