An exercise of will, part 2

[darkemeralds]

Today I'm knitting. Knitting is part of my Big Plan For Self-Improvement In 2012.

It's taken years, but I've finally accepted that "self-improvement" doesn't mean changing what I am. It means being better at what I am.

Well, what I am, among other things, is a craftswoman, and I like knitting. So I've decided that 2012 is the year I become as good a knitter in reality as I am in my imagination



I've defined four knitting skills* I want to master, and four big projects** that those skills will help me achieve this year.



My first proving ground is an Aran-style cardigan, which I started in November. Last night I finished the second sleeve, and this morning I looked at those sleeves in the proverbial cold light of day.

It wasn't a happy moment.

I told myself some stories about how I could make them work. Tight forearms could be a style statement...yeah! Nobody will notice the weird leg-o'mutton line of the shoulder...right?

I argued with myself for fifteen minutes before I finally admitted that the sleeves were simply wrong. Wrong, wrong, wrong. A month's worth of knitting, wasted.



In The Practicing Mind, Thomas Sterner proposes a simple model for any practice, drawn from Buddhist tradition: Do, Observe, Correct.

Well, I'd Done, and, like most hurried Westerners, I was about to Re-Do. I always just Re-Do. It is the slowest, most inefficient way to improve at anything, but it's the way our entire society seems to favor. "Again! Repeat! Go-go-go!" We hurry to do it wrong one more time. Only the naturally gifted move ahead, while we sacrifice loads of potential talent on the altar of haste.

Just as I was about to start ripping those sleeves out, something went *ping*. It said, "Slow down. You're about to make the same mistakes again."

So before I raveled a single stitch, I Observed. I checked my math and found my error. I measured everything again. I acknowledged a second problem with the sleeves that I'd been ignoring. I photographed, annotated, and Evernoted. I updated my written pattern.

Then I ripped the sleeves back to the shoulders and started them all over again.

This time, all the uncertainty and wild-ass guesswork of the careless first Doing are gone. This is Correction, and I know it, and so the work is calmer, more confident, more regular. Faster, even. It's better.

I think I'm beginning to understand these magical people who consistently produce high-quality work without angst. I think I might be able to become one of them.

It's about time.

*matching increases and decreases, Kitchener grafting and bind-off, short-row shaping, top-down raglan shoulders

**Two cardigans, a jacket, and possibly a pullover.

Comments

[jumpuphigh]

Would you like me to dig up the two Kitchener videos I use when I need to use that stitch for you? (Yes, I need both of them. They are each clear on separate parts of the process.)

[darkemeralds]

Oh, yes! I'd love to see them.

I have a handicap with regard to most knitting videos because I'm left-handed (and knit left-handed) so I have to watch them in a mirror, but a big part of my improvement plan includes actually learning from the experts, and that often means videos. So, sure, yes, hook me up!

[jumpuphigh]

I like this one for the humor and the instructions on starting.

I like this one for her little rhythm once she gets going.

[darkemeralds]

Wow! That second one is really great. It's almost better for me that I can't see the details close-up because I have to do it all in the other direction anyway, but the way she combines the two motions on each needle, and her rhythmic mantra, both make Kitchener clearer for me than anything else ever has.

That's fantastic. Thank you!

[jumpuphigh]

You're welcome. This is how I approach kitchener stitch every time I need it. Thread my needle. Sigh. Suck it up. Start playing the first video. Laugh. Go, "oh, right." Put the video on pause. Go find alcohol. Take a good swig of said alcohol. Continue playing the video. Try to get the weird way that people in the US pearl and knit into my head.* Once I've figured it out enough that I'll remember long enough to do my kitchener, do the first few stitches along with that video. Stop the video. Switch over to the second video. Click somewhere in the middle. Get the rhythm of it in my head. Stop that video. Chant to myself under my breath as I do it.


*I learned how to knit from my Mexican host mother when I was 17 and she taught me Eastern Style. It confuses the heck out of American knitters but I think it is way simpler except when I need to learn new skills. None of my books even acknowledge that there are other styles of knitting.

[darkemeralds]

My good pal and knitting friend vampirefan also learned to knit in Mexico, and she calls her style "combined." It's exactly like my style (well, mirror-imaged), and I learned to knit in France from a German girl. I've heard my style called "hooking" and "Continental" and "German." Is that what you mean by Eastern style? Where you hook the yarn through with your working (right) needle, and your left hand just tensions the yarn?

In any case I know what you mean about the difference. I look at most American knitting videos and just go, "Huh?" I can't feel any relationship between what I'm seeing on the screen and what my hands do--which is why most knitting videos aren't very useful to me.

And yet the knitting itself comes out looking the same.

Are you familiar with TechKnitting? Great blog, very technical, very inspiring. This post on tubular bind-off (using her own interesting take on Kitchener) is really good.

[jumpuphigh]

It is continental style but the actual creation of the stitches is different. Ignoring the bit about slipping the first stitch, this video shows my normal knit stitch and this video shows my normal perl stitch.

I have TechKnitting bookmarked on my computer. :)

[darkemeralds]

OMG THAT'S IT! That is EXACTLY how I knit (except mirrored, of course).

I've never heard it called Russian style before, but yup, that's me knitting, right there, in a mirror. Cool!

vampirefan pointed out that this style of knitting reverses the angle of increases and decreases from what's on the label--your standard left-slanting decrease will slant right, and vice-versa. This solved a major mystery for me: as a left-handed "Russian" knitter, my decreases come out as per the standard label. Who knew??? I was tying my brain in knots trying to figure out why my careful reversal of decrease instructions was resulting in such a mess.

Thanks for the videos. They're somehow really validating. :D

[jumpuphigh]

*brushes hands together* My work here is done. :D

Oh, yes, knitting in this style does weird things to decreases and it makes finding good instructions on how to do things like knit into the front and back of the stitch a real challenge. I've never met anyone in the US who knits like me so it's awesome to have someone else. Feel free to yell my way if you are having problems translating American style into your style. I've done a lot of the heavy lifting here.

The day I encountered this style of making a stitch in a library book, I nearly cried because I felt so validated. It's technically called Eastern Uncrossed. There is an Eastern Crossed as well.

If you want to see a really wild way of knitting and purling, watch this video.

[darkemeralds]

*blinks*

Wow. That's really different. Watching her fly along with k2-p2 rib is impressive.

I will definitely come back to you with translation questions if I run across them. This is great. Thank you!

[jumpuphigh]

Watching her knit makes my head hurt. I do find it so interesting how different ways of making the same stitches evolved in different locations.

[flaneurgardening.com]

Nothing more frustrating than realising an error that far in, but on the other hand it's very fulfilling when you then realise just how to correct it so you end up with something that will actually be worn!

That said, it looks like a great pattern! I'm currently doing an improvised raglan jumper in a much simpler design, and there's something quite fulfilling about producing something that you actually look forward to wearing.

(Oh, and this is Sorenr from LJ...)

[darkemeralds]

Hi! Thanks for coming by to comment over here. The pattern I'm working from is excellent. It's more of a working diagram than a row-by-row instruction, allowing you to get your own gauge and design your own cables, with instructions for pullover or cardigan, various necklines, and whatever finishing you want.

The fitting instructions have been excellent--adaptable to all kinds of projects.

If you're on Ravelry, it's here. Most of the Ravelers who've used the pattern seem to agree that it's a particularly good one. (I'm Darkemeralds over there, too, by the way.)

If you're not on Rav, the pattern is in this book.

[darkemeralds]

Oh! It took me a minute to put "sorenr" together in my mind with...well, reality, and I realize that you're the person ravurian warmly recommended that I follow because, among other things, you knit and garden.

Hello! I think I found you on Ravelry, too. And if that sorenr is you, that wool you're using for the cable jumper looks yummy.

[flaneurgardening.com]

That is indeed me, and the wool is indeed yummy! Chunky and soft organic wool; pleasant with an added bonus of organic brownie-points!

[vampirefan]

when i first learned to knit, i remember that the teacher would have us all do stitch pattern swatches. i had a spiral notebook full of swatches. all tied to the spiral with the pattern written on the page next to it.

that really helped me, i think, to pay attention and learn really well what the knit and purl stitches look like (i know a new-ish knitter who still has trouble with that), how cables form and how different stitches affect the finished product. i can't find my damn notebook. i think it got left in mexico when i moved here and was lost at some point (even though i left it in the house my parents still owned at the time)

when i picked up knitting again, i came across a book: "magnificent mittens" and that one had a bunch of different castons and castoffs that i'd never seen and i tried 'em all out (still haven't made any mittens from that book!)

so basically. yes, practice makes perfect! :P

[darkemeralds]

Your description of that training--the swatching, the careful building of knowledge and understanding--has been one of my inspirations in this process. At first I was all, "Oh, I envy her so much for having learned early, and formally--waah, boo-hoo, I didn't get that, poor me."

Then I sort of slapped myself around a little and said, "It's not too late, you know, lame-ass. That's what the internet is for." Knowing it was possible because I knew someone who'd done it really opened the door in my mind. So thank you!

\o/

[ranunculus]

I've recently tried to start knitting again. My Aunt tried to teach me about 30 years ago and I made one lumpy scarf and hat. Coming back to it I'm terribly intimidated by all the figuring out of stitches, counting and so on. All I really want to do is run back to my crochet hooks and say "crochet is SO much simpler"!!!

Slinks off and contemplates doing the dreaded swatches.

[vampirefan]

i did a lot of crocheting at first. i made doilys...the kind people would put on the arms of their couches or on the backs of the couches, or on round side tables. lots with the "pineapple" type motif. (no idea where they all ended up at!). there's counting galore in those kind of motifs if you want it to end up round and not lopsided!

once i started knitting, it seemed to be that there was less effort to get the stitches done than there is in crochet and my hands got less tired. there are definitely advantages and disadvantages in each craft. :)

good luck! there are so many resources available now, youtube videos and knittinghelp.com, and of course, ravelry.com!

[darkemeralds]

Like vampirefan, I learned to crochet well before I learned to knit. It's definitely simpler in that you only have one stitch before you at a time. I remember it being easy to develop speed, and I used to enjoy thread crocheting. I still have a set of really effective potholders I made from Knit-Cro-Sheen mercerized cotton thread.

I took to knitting because the possibilities for actual clothing seemed greater, as the fabric it can produce is more versatile.

Both crafts are wonderfully relaxing and have their uses and their avid advocates, and Ravelry is a great place to encounter them all!

[darkemeralds]

You've reminded me of another skill I intend to acquire this year. I can tell knit and purl stitches apart, but there's a lot about "reading the knitting" that I'm not very good at. I suck and counting rows (which is how my sleeves turned ridiculous), I'm marginal at counting stitches, I have a hard time detecting where an increase or decrease actually happened--stuff like that.

I have a knitting co-worker, justjen, who can read a piece of knitting as easily as I read a paragraph of text. She can spot exactly where you went wrong, and how, when something looks funny. She can deconstruct cables and find her own mistakes in huge swaths of lace.

I'd like to get better that that kind of thing. Plain old practice and repetition will help, I know, but I think mindfulness--the intention to learn it, and a plan for learning--will make it smoother.

Oh! Two skills in this area that I've acquired while making this Aran are correcting a mistake several rows down by laddering just a few stitches (I rescued a 6-stitch cable this way \o/); and ripping back with confidence. I used to be afraid that I could never pick up all the stitches again, but I've learned how. So that's progress!

[vampirefan]

oh yay! being able to understand how to fix a stitch a few rows down is definitely a necessary skill! i find that using a crochet hook is the best way to knit/purl a stitch upward.

i can usually kinda tell where i've made a mistake - but that's after carefully looking over what i've done. in lace, i have a much harder time telling where i went wrong and i definitely cannot even try to do any laddering!! so what i do is count each pattern row once i've knitted it, so i can make sure i have the correct amount of stitches (and boy, have i benefited from others who usually have already figured this stuff out and share their charts with the counts on them!)

i just had to figure out where i created an additional stitch on this last row of the shawl i'm working on and it took me quite a while after carefully reviewing what i had done. but i prefer that to having to frog back. it would be a disaster for me especially since i don't have a lifeline inserted.

[darkemeralds]

You've reminded me of another prong in my multi-pronged attack on Mediocre Knitting: the right tools. God knows why I was so resistant to them, but I was. I've embraced charts (long way to go yet before I really understand how they work); I use County (Android row-counting app) religiously where row-count matters--because I seriously used to just wing it, and then get frustrated with my own mistakes. Lame lame lame.

I have a good needle gauge, a tape measure and a calculator in my kit. I have proper cable needles and a cute little wooden hook for that laddering-repair trick. I haven't used a lifeline yet, but when lace gets on my agenda in 2013, I will! I'm so impressed that you could identify and fix a lace mistake.

Evernote is probably my most powerful tool: I photograph stuff with my phone and send it directly to an Evernote, where I then write down measurements, mistakes, corrections, ideas--everything. It's the best tool ever!

Tools I still need are a big blocking surface and blocking pins. Probably some other things, too.

Anyway, I've embraced all the aids, tools, helpers and tricks I can get my hands on, and that's really speeding up my progress.

Oh, and have you seen this chart-generator? Pretty neat.

From Happytune

[(Anonymous)]

Good approach - I'm going to remember that. Do. Observe. Correct.

Funny when I saw your pre-Observation photo I did what /I/ always do. Not 'Re-Do', but 'Adapt'. I thought, 'well you could cut it here and sew it to some wonderful fabric sleeve and then you'd have a funky sleeve to add to something else'. Which is why I have half a million half-finished projects in my drawer. So I'm going to try the way you've outlined here, and Observe and Correct those before I start a new project! Thank you!

Re: From Happytune

[darkemeralds]

Yay! I'm glad the notion is useful to you.

Visions of a knitted insert that would correct the sleeve shaping did pass through my avoidy-brain for a minute or two, though I'll admit my solutions never got as creative as the ones you mention!

But I do have an old, old UFO, a black and white Norwegian pullover, about half finished, which I'm going to felt and sew into handlebar mits for my bike--mostly because I need hand warmers right now way more than I need another pullover.

In fact, that would be a good project for tomorrow!

[scribblemoose]

What an interesting thought. It's a subtle difference in the idea of what constitutes 'practise' isn't it? The addition of mindfulness to the process converts it from random to planned learning.

Good luck with the knitting! I'm just about to start on my first knitting project in about fifteen years, very exciting!

[darkemeralds]

That's it exactly! In my upbringing, "practice" just meant "keep repeating." There was always a sense that repetition alone would magically impart all needed improvements.

It imparts some, for sure: it stores the steps of a dance in muscle-memory and helps you memorize the alto line of the motet and those 501 French Verbs. Sewing lots of patterns and making lots of mistakes as a young girl certainly made me a better seamstress--albeit slowly.

But I don't think I can remember a single instance of a teacher having time to help me observe my own mistakes, analyze them, and correct them specifically and mindfully.

My mind keeps going to the amazing prodigies coming out of Asian schools. I'm sure the 18-year-old Chinese violin virtuoso has suffered endless repetition (and probably lots of pain and heartache), but I can't help wondering if an embedded Do-Observe-Correct practice style doesn't account for a lot of the achievement.

[darkemeralds]

PS: What are you going to be knitting? I'd love to see if you care to share.

[scribblemoose]

When I worked at the college I did a lot of work on methods of learning and especially what constituted effective feedback from teachers. Again and again it was made clear that formative feedback - get the student to perform a task (be it an essay, a test or a practical task)/give detailed feedback on how it can be improved/student tries again/further feedback given - not only gets best results, but teaches the student how to best evaluate and develop their own practice, so they become efficient independent learners.

And yet, the number of teachers who actually do this is so small!

[darkemeralds]

Formative feedback. I like that term! I would imagine that in addition to improving the student's skills and performance, the method also helps the teacher continue to improve.

It is a time-consuming process, however, and it strikes me that it would have to be strongly supported by the whole system to be practical. I'd love to experience an environment like that. I honestly don't think I ever have. Maybe in kindergarten.

[scribblemoose]

I've decided to start with a simple shawl for my Mum. I wanted to knit something for her because she was the one who taught me to knit, and kept me in jumpers and socks for most of my childhood! She's 90 now (still fit, active and knitting, I'm pleased to say) and feels the cold a bit when she's out with friends (her social life is way better than mine) so I thought she might like a shawl and it's difficult to buy nice ones in the shop that don't swamp her as she's a tiny wee person!

Plus, it looks like a straightforward pattern to ease my way back with! I've bought some lovely soft Mirasol yarn in a gorgeous blue - I was amazed at the number of yarns my local shop had to choose from. Last time I went in a wool shop (about a decade ago!) there were only big industrial brands, uniform colours - now there's all these lovely exotic fair traded yarns and some beautiful local ones - it seems Yorkshire has a thriving wool-dyeing industry! Shouldn't be surprised really, there are a LOT of sheep...

As you can tell I'm still very excited about this! One last work project to get through for today and then I'm going to cast on... :)

[darkemeralds]

Oh, that's a lovely shawl! Not so lacy that it lets all the cold air through, but lacy enough to be feminine and pretty.

Isn't today's yarn selection incredible? I just go nuts yarn shopping online. I regret not buying some Ronaldsay wool while I was in Orkney, but I didn't discover it existed till I saw a display of it at Kirkwall airport just as I was leaving.

Still, there's some wonderful wool being spun here locally and I'm leaning heavily toward an All-Oregon sweater for my next project.

[tehomet]

I can but don't knit, but this was still a very interesting post.

[darkemeralds]

Thanks! I figure everyone has some practice that could benefit from a little Do-Observe-Correct.

[tehomet]

Quite right. It would work on anything from doing the washing-up to nuclear fusion. :)

[darkemeralds]

Hee! Though I think the Correct phase ought to carry a little more weight in nuclear fusion than in the dish-rack.

[executrix]

As for those people who "consistently produce high-quality work without angst"--I suspect that the 15-second version of how they produced the admirable result (be it beautiful shawl or exciting novel) leaves out the interim reports that probably involved a number of false starts or even saying "Screw it, it won't fit the baby but it will fit the dog."

[darkemeralds]

Oh, absolutely. But life is short and art is long, and the low success rate of the hit-and-miss method feels more and more profligate to me as time goes on. Knitting is fun and relaxing in its own right, of course, but every failed project makes it less and less so. Many sheep have given their coats to my poorly-fitting, unfinished, and never-started projects.

Of course, this effort of mine is much less about whether the baby or the dog winds up with a tam-o-shanter than about improvement itself. That is the new craft under discussion.

That said, a couple of nice sweaters that fit will be very satisfying.

[tehomet]

suspect that the 15-second version of how they produced the admirable result (be it beautiful shawl or exciting novel) leaves out the interim reports that probably involved a number of false starts or even saying "Screw it, it won't fit the baby but it will fit the dog."

LOL!

[darkemeralds]

I can always count on executrix for the oblique perspective, and the best metaphors in the biz.

[panisdead]

This post inspired me to make a test swatch for my next project. (I NEVER make a test swatch). And I'm really glad I did this time, because I had to go up two needle sizes. Yikes.

[darkemeralds]

I inspired you to swatch??? Wow! I'm loving this feeling of power! LOL!

I resisted test swatching for my first couple of projects, but I soon learned the error of my ways.

In my local yarn shop there's a wonderful little display board showing nine swatches. All consist of the same number and type of stitches, in the same yarn, knitted on the same needles, and all are different. Some are squarer, some are more elongated, some are considerably bigger than others.

"The only difference between these swatches," the caption reads, "is that they were made by nine different staff members." If I hadn't already been convinced of the virtue of swatching, that would've done it.

Anyway, I'm so glad you discovered a big change before you started knitting, because that pattern is darling and it would be a shame to have it not fit.