Things I Wish I'd Known

Not much progress tonight, folks

Well, that's it. That's the sum total of what I got done tonight. I wish I could make the cable stand out a little better. At least this is a better representation of the true color of Powder.

I've enjoyed reading all of the people who have posted the knitting things that they wished they had know earlier. Since Nanette, one of my favorite daily reads, invited us all to jump in and share, how could I not participate? Sometimes I wonder if we do know these things early on, but we avoid them and only decide they are important after some major knitting disaster like a far too large sweater or ugly seams. At any rate, here's my top ten list, in no particular order.

1. Two words: Mattress Stitch. The wonderful friend who taught me how to knit, showed me how to seam using backstitch, and it never occurred to me that there were other wasy to do this. Then, when I did figure out there might be other ways, I couldn't find a good picture of how to do it. I finally learned through Debbie Bliss How to Knit, which I definitely recommend.
2. Blocking is the key to a beautifully finished garment. Blocking makes it easier to deal with edge stitches and really does help set the finished shape the way you want it to be. Blocking is not hard. It just takes a space to do it in, patience, a spray bottle and rust-proof pins.
3. How you hold the yarn makes all the difference. For a long time I carried the yarn in my left hand, but was a thrower. It was a lot of effort for me to knit this way, and it was hard for me to maintain my tension consistently. With the help of Maggie Righetti's Knitting in Plain English and a few other pictoral references, I finally got it down. My tension is better and my speed is much improved.
4. Don't be afraid of speed demon needles. I used to worry about the loss of control with AddiTurbos. Now I don't want to knit with anything else. Along the same lines: circular needles are the only way to fly. I like straight needles as art objects, but I find I get a lot less strain on my joints when I use circs.
5. Sock knitting is not hard! I wish I had learned to knit socks much earlier in my career than I did. Socks are quick and rewarding and can be wonderful color trips. Self-patterning sock yarn can make even boring stockinette interesting.
6. There is no knitting religion. Everyone has favorite techniques, but that doesn't mean that there aren't other ways to do things. If I had to use DP needles to knit socks, well, I wouldn't knit socks. My best kntting buddy wouldn't knit them any other way. We both get great results. Don't let anyone tell you that there's only one way to knit something!
7. Patterns are only reference points. I'm still learning this, but I've ventured off the beaten path enough to know that there's no pattern police and no reason why you shouldn't make a garment be what you want it to be.
8. If you're going to knit for other people, knit with them in mind. I no longer expect my husband to want a brightly colored Fair Isle sweater or Koigu socks. If you knit something for yourself for someone else, don't expect them to be as excited about it as you would be. The only way to make sure that your gift is appreciated is to make sure that you fit the recipeint's style and likes.
9. Felting is fast, fabulous and therapeautic.
10. It's okay to have a range of projects going at any one time. In the late 90's I didn't do much knitting at all because I thought I could only do one project at a time, and I was working on a complicated project that needed a lot of attention. Now I almost always have a couple of simple projects (like socks and scarves) that can go in a car, and one or two more challengeing things. Even when I don't feel motivated to work on the hard stuff, I have something I enjoy.