Back in 2006 when I was really getting into knitting I tackled Ene's Scarf. I remember battling with the charts and making quite a mess the pattern in the middle - muddling up the middle section and making a hash of the border. But I did it and I thought it looked great.
Fast forward to now - when I unpick or rip back if it isn't right or I drop a stitch. When I check what the knitting is looking like as I go - not just blindly following the pattern but looking at what the texture is and the knitting that I am creating. I am not sure when I started doing this but I remember a time when I just knitted and looked at the pattern but not really my knitting. I didn't understand that, at least not til I read the instructions for the baby surprise. Elizabeth Zimmerman makes you look at your knitting, makes you take responsibility for the rows gone by, you have to own it. This I think for me was when I really became a knitter. I no longer blindly followed the pattern and hoped for the best. Fingers crossed it will fit, it will look OK on me -and those fudges there wont be noticeable.
Now I think about the projects I embark on - perhaps a plain knit is less taxing but I still check the tension, and think hard about what it will look like when it is finished. Will I like it? Will it really suit me?
But more importantly as I go after each row I look at my knitting - does it look like I want it to look. Do my stitches look right?
I take responsibility now for my knitting.
So May 2010 I cast on Ene's scarf again - it was like re reading a book - but this time I learnt as I went. I observed the construction, the charts and my own knitting. I still made a mistake in the border but I actually left it there to remind me that I am still learning and I can fix my mistakes on the go more by reading my own knitting along with the pattern..
now I just have to block it - and the Knitabulous yarn was a delight to knit with.
