Perfection Is Overrated

I was watching a crafts program and the woman was saying that a big hindrance for a lot of people is that they get so hung up on trying to make things perfectly that they wind up either not enjoying it or simply never finish at all.

She said that perfection is highly overrated. It's a hobby and one should enjoy it, not stress over making it perfect. I have to agree with her completely.

I remember when I first started knitting. As I tend to be something of a perfectionist by nature I experienced a great deal of stress trying to learn and trying to make it perfect. A guy on MWK (thanks MMario) told me that knitting is supposed to relieve stress, not cause it.

I gave that a great deal of thought and realized that he was exactly right. I stopped stressing over trying to make it perfect, and just started making it. My knitting improved very quickly after that and I actually enjoyed the process of creating something, even if imperfect, with my own two hands.

Perfection is highly overrated and can actually get in the way of enjoying our knitting.

First Progress Pic Of Sapphire Sweater

The sapphire blue sweater is coming along. I've taken the first progress pic of it. In the pic it looks like the left sleeve is a bit shorter, but that's just the pic they're actually the same.

I think it's coming along ok for my first attempt at one.

Raglan Sweater Coming Along

Despite doing all the measurements and calculations for my first raglan sweater, it's still very cool to actually see it taking shape as I knit. I'm doing it top down.

Between doing laundry and assorted other odds and ends I haven't been working on it as much as I would like, but it's coming along. I started it on 16" circs and have transferred it twice to longer cables. I am still working on the raglan increases but the actual shape is visible now and it's looking just like I thought it should.

I tried it on last night while transferring it to the latest cable length, the Options with 32" cable which is what I'll knit the remainder of the sweater on. The neck fits perfectly and what there is of the raglan increases lays exactly as it should.

As long as I keep checking it for fit as I go along I think it's going to turn out pretty good.

I'll post a progress pic or two once it gets to a point that it looks like something worth taking a picture of.

Starting My First Sweater

I received my order of Sapphire Heather Wool of the Andes yarn from Knit Picks and will be using it to knit up my first actual sweater. I love the color, and if the gauge swatch is any indication it's going to knit up quite nicely.

Right now I am knitting up the swatch between doing laundry and going across the street to check on my mother who just had throat cancer surgery on Friday. I haven't yet finished the swatch but already have a pretty good idea of the gauge. I'll finish the swatch anyway just to be sure.

As I haven't found an in the round sweater pattern that I really like, and don't especially like following other people's patterns anyway, I am just going to wing it and do a simple raglan style sweater. I may or may not put a couple of cables in it for style. Since it's my first sweater I figure I'm better off to keep it simple.

Wish me luck.

Rough Time

My mother is going in for throat cancer surgery today and I am over 1,000 miles away. I'm trying to get home ASAP but am being met with delay after delay. With any luck I'll be there Tuesday. I'm trying hard to stay positive and not be overly worried about her, but it's tough.

I got the alpaca vest about half way finished but the sport weight alpaca is just too thin and soft to have a decent shape for a vest. It just didn't look good. I wound up frogging it and decided to use the yarn to make a hat and scarf combination.

While working on the hat I was still trying to decide exactly what I wanted it to look like. I decided to make something different and am going to knit a very long hat that the top will wrap around the neck like a scarf. Kind of a combination hat and scarf in one.

I have no idea how it'll look but what the heck, it might be pretty cool.