Getting Started...... Again

Getting started again. For me this feels even worse than all the prep work that goes into initially starting a new project. At least then there is excitement. Something new is being formed. How quickly will I learn the pattern repeat. Is this the right yarn for this project? All of these questions add to the excitement.

Even when the pattern takes time to understand. When mistakes need to be taken out again and again. I try to be patient. I tell myself "This always happens with something new. Give it some time. Everything will click at some point and it will be smooth sailing from then."

Except sometimes it is not smooth sailing. Sometimes a half done project will sit neglected for a time. Maybe it was set aside because of time restrains, lack of yarn, those dreaded finishing touches, abandoned to work on something else, or I dropped it into the black hole that is my knitting bag.

I always have good intentions when stopping a project. I'll say something like "I just need to work on this gift for a birthday or Christmas. I'll pick this back up when I'm finished." Or maybe I'll think "I need more yarn for this and I'll get it the next time I'm in the craft store." More often than not the stopping is not intentional. I put a project down for a day which ends up turning into a week, a month, or even longer. But, no matter what the reason for setting something aside I always find it harder to start it back up again.

Just last Fall I finally admitted that I wasn't ever getting back to the huge yarn eating blanket that I ran out of yarn for over three years ago. I decided that since it hadn't see the light of day since before I was married it was time that I look at it again. Time to admit that I would never be getting the yarn to finish it. Time to take out the stitches and let the yarn have a new life. There is more than one way to end a project. This is why I shouldn't let a project sit abandoned for this long.

A few months ago I was working on a new scarf. It was a Brioche pattern that also used increases and decreases to make an intricate design. I've just started to learn Brioche (see my post on Brioche Knitting to find out how that process went). So, the the project was a little slow getting started. I had to watch and re-watch some videos to remember this technique again. I felt like I had to relearn Brioche before I even got started on the more advanced pattern. But, finally I was getting it. I had the pattern memorized and everything was working out nicely. I had gotten into my groove and it was coming along smoothly.

Well it was until I decided to put it in my knitting bag and take it with me somewhere. And that is where it sat. From that point on there always seemed to be one excuse or another as to why I wasn't pulling it back out of the bag. Excuses such as "I rearranged some furniture and haven't decided on my new knitting spot" or "I'll get back to it when I settle into my new position at work." And maybe for a time those were the real reasons. As the project sat in my bag day after day, there became more and more little reasons for me not to get back to it.

However, the largest reason was my lack of motivation. I didn't want to have to go through the process of starting it again. At this point I had left the project so long that I would have to relearn the stitch repeat. I would have to sit there and read the pattern for each row. This always makes each row take ten times longer or at least feel that way.



However, it had been more than a month since I touched the project. I decided that it was now or never. I needed to find some motivation to get started again. Now for some people this might not be the right game plan. But, for me I tend to be more motivated to finish one project when I have another that I want to work on.


I tend to try not to have more than one project going at a time. So, the excitement of getting a new project started will give me just enough push to finish the old project. And I'm glad that I it did. The project that I was dreading to pick up a second time turned into a lovely reversible scarf. I also proved to myself that I could do a more complicated Brioche pattern. If you are interested in making this scarf yourself you should check out this issue of Kitty®.


Anyone else have problems picking an abandoned project up again? If so what are some tricks you used to get started again? Leave your tips and tricks in the comments here or on my Facebook page Joywithyarn1.

Learning a New Technique

Near the end of December, I decided that I would get a jump start on my knitting goals for 2020. Check out this post, A Year in a Review to see those goals. I was going to learn Brioche knitting. For those of you who are unfamiliar with this term, Brioche knitting is a stretchier rib that is completely reversible. A lot of times it is done with two colors and each side will have a predominant color.

All of the best looking patterns use two colors, so I went searching through my closet for two colors that would work well together. Usually these patterns call for a light and dark color for better contrast. I finally settled on this dark purple and light gray combo.

Now that I had my yarn I was ready to start learning Brioche. I sat down with my needles, yarn, and some YouTube videos. I had heard that this was a hard technique, but with the video I was getting it. Or I thought I was. Then I got to row 5 or 6 and it looked nothing like the video.

So, I started again and again and again. Over the next few
days I started a lot more times than I want to admit. Each time I would get to that same spot I had to take it all out again. I tried a different video. I tried some written instructions. I kept getting stuck at that same spot.

At this point I was frustrated and decided to put the yarn down. But, I am stubborn and still wanted to learn this technique. I thought that I would just watch a few videos without trying to knit along with them. I would just watch them start to finish and analyze them. I still couldn't figure out what I was doing differently from them.

Then I found this video from Happy Knitter and something just clicked. She holds her yarn similar to how I hold mine. I finally understood when she was holding the yarn in the front and when she moved it to the back. But, the best part of the video is that she explains the theory behind this technique. She explains how one can just look at the previous row and tell where to knit, purl, or yarn over.

She also has the chart work at the top of the video and explains the symbols row by row. Explaining them using the Brioche terms as well as the familiar knitting term. Of course I would have to pick a new technique that uses completely different chart symbols and terms.

After watching her video I was able to pick up the yarn again. This time I was finally able to get past those dreaded rows 5 and 6. Turns out my only problem was that during some rows I was holding the yarn in the front when I should've held it in the back. Simple mistake made a big difference after a few rows.

Once I got past those initial rows it worked up fairly quickly.  Now I can't wait to start a more complex Brioche knitting pattern.