Recovering from Error
Well, this is an interesting start to the new year! My first project of 2023 is in the process of being unravelled up to the mid-yoke… After I’d already finished the bodice, the hem, and most of one sleeve. I am a very fast knitter, and it’s only a couple of evenings wasted. Not a big deal. Let’s just move on and get it done, yeah? But the bad feeling of having to unravel and re-do so much of my work runs deeper than I would like it to.
Which is not surprising. Based on the many conversations I’ve had on this topic, I would say for most of us knitters the worst part about messing up is not the mistake itself. It’s not even the unraveling, or the wasted time. It’s the knock to our confidence, or even to our self-esteem in a wider sense.
After years of experience, we develop this idea of ourselves - as a skilled knitter, a careful knitter, a ‘good’ knitter. And just as we comfortably settle into that role… bang! A mistake. And a silly mistake at that. What does that say about me as a knitter? Am I not as good as I thought?
As a former psychologist, I know the best way to deal with a mistake is to fix it, learn from it (if there is anything to be learned), and then swiftly move on. And not to assign special meaning or wider implications to the mistake. Not to interpret it as a ‘sign,’ or as a reflection of your character. Because that direction of thinking is what causes the doubts, the anxieties, the second-guessing, which in turn lead to… yes, more mistakes. We want to avoid entering that cycle.
I am generally pretty good at applying this strategy. But I realise now I am rusty, because - ironically - I haven’t made mistakes like this for some time. When we don’t make mistakes, we don’t get the opportunity to practice getting over them. It’s an interesting way to think about it. And in future, to be grateful for small errors (because in the scheme of things - let’s be honest, knitting mistakes are hardly significant) which help me cultivate and maintain a decent level of resilience.
Maybe not such a bad start to the year, to be reminded of this early. And the sweater? It will be finished and lovely in no time. It was just a mistake. So what!
