Rules Revisited

As a newbie quilter, I've learned a few really important rules.

Rule #1:
If You Think You've Made a Mistake, You Probably Have.

Rule #2:
Fix That Mistake You Think You Made Now...Right Now.
Do Not, Under Any Circumstances, Keep Going. Do it NOW!

Now, I understand that those two rules apply to knitting, too. Early on in the first piece of Sweater #2, I spotted a wee hole. I thought it might be a mistake, but I kept knitting. "No one will ever notice," I said to myself. A couple of rows later, I linked up the end of skein #1 and the beginning of skein #2 with a somewhat sloppy Russian Join. "It won't show," said the little "eager knitter" voice in my head as I kept stitching on the new skein.

Every few rows, I'd survey my completed work. "It's looking good," I thought. Then, I'd spot the wee hole. "It's nothing," I repeatedly tried to convince myself. And, my eye would then be drawn to the sloppy Russian Join. "It's fine," my self-dialogue continued. This nagging process continued everytime I picked up my needles.

This morning, as skein #2 was winding down, the wee hole was beginning to look like something you could shoot a canon through. And, the Russian Join looked as if it had split for Siberia. I finally remembered my two most important stitching rules. I faced the truth. I had made not just one mistake, but two. And, while the best time to fix them was when they happened. The second best time to fix them was now.

After a lengthy session of friggin' froggin', skein #2 is back in a ball, resting comfortably in my knitting basket. The Russian Join has been replaced by a clean yarn break at the end of a row. The wee hole is no more. And, I'm just about back where I started with this sweater.

I'm not making much progress. But, I'm getting lots of practice!