A Different Approach

Before  I start the serious knitting from the Masterclass book, I found myself asking several questions such as is it a cop out to quit knitting a project due to a poorly written patter; is it acceptable to substitute patterns of similar characteristics because I am not fond of the way a designer work or the difficulty is what I might consider inappropriate for the lesson; should I skip around and knit what I like first or should I move through the lessons in chronological order?

I've been following another knitter who started a similar project back in October.  While I think our goals are similar, our approaches are certainly different.  Case in point, she's chosen to move through the workshops and projects randomly while my approach is to dive into the book head on and work through the lessons one at a time from the beginning of the book to the end and knit the projects in the order they appear in the book.  I don't think there's a right or wrong way to take this learning journey; I just feel the right way for ME is to take it one step at a time, breaking it down into smaller pieces, and moving through the book in chronological order.  It may not be right for her or anyone else. This is what is right for me.

I don't keep up with the other knitter's progress in any fanatical way.  I check in to see what she's done and if there are issue with patterns that may require searching for errata since the book was published several years ago.  What I have found is that her journey process is to move around through the book which obviously works for her.  Her latest posts indicated she was not happy with several of the patterns and in recent weeks, she chose to substitute patterns for a project that she feels are similar in difficulty and technique.  I'm not sure I agree with her process; it's my prerogative to disagree and as long as I do so in a polite and appropriate manner, I don't see anything wrong with that.  I don't feel it's my place to call her out on this; it was her choice and it is how she feels she will learn the most from the lessons being taught in the various workshops.

However, with all that said, I don't see anything wrong with knitting just 1 sock for the project.  To me, knitting a pair of sock is a two part lesson.  The first sock teaches you the lessons to be learned.  The second sock reinforces the new skills and techniques learned while knitting the 1st sock.  But if you don't like the sock pattern to begin with, choose a yarn from your stash that you're not in love with, knit one sock, and save the rest of the yarn for the next sock project.   Nothing says both socks have to be  pair from the same pattern and if you're building a sample reference library as I was considering doing with all the swatches from each lesson, well, there you go.  The other thing is that you can always frog the project at a later time, right?

Well, off to get some fiber time in on Lark (that's my Kromski Minstrel) before I head over to the closest LYS for the Saturday S 'n' B.  Happy Saturday and Happy Fiber Journey, My Friends!