Advanced-Intermediate

I’ve been knitting since sixth or seventh grade, that’s, let’s  see… seven or eight years. (Really?) I would describe myself as an advanced-intermediate knitter.  I  can handle pretty much anything the average knitting pattern can throw at me.

So, when I decided that I was going to knit my mom the BLT Shawl (By Cheri McEwen) for Mother’s Day I figured it would be a breeze.  Sure, it’s been a while since I knit lace (since, Thunderstorm) but its nothing I can’t handle right?

Wrong, wrong, wrong. Well, nothing was wring with the pattern itself or the instructions. They were clear and the result is lovely. For whatever reason, my brain did not want to remember or understand the first lace motif. It’s simple, but it just didn’t connect.

The lace had knocked me back on my arse, simple enough. It was slightly startling, to struggle with my knitting. I had figured that I was at the point where knitting was something I had a firm grasp upon. Rather like a well trained horse or experienced musician’s grasp of the scales.

After a few false starts and some mild cursing I got it down and the knitting has flowed since (which is a good thing, since Mother’s day in the US is Sunday, May eighth).

It’s given me something to think about, showing my knitting some respect. I’m not as smart as I thought I was, or at least, there’s a lot more knowledge than I realized. I’m glad this pretty little pattern decided to give me a kick in the pants, because I needed one. Knitting is a give and take relationship with a infinite well of knowledge to explore and respect.