Challenging Ourselves

I know very well how it is to be "stuck in a rut", not learning, growing or moving forward.  It feels very stagnant.  I have used the past 5 years to perfect my knitting.  Now, I'm not saying that I am a perfect knitter.  As a matter of fact, if I sat beside another knitter, I would probably boggle their mind by how I do my own stitches.  I knit using a "plaited" knitting stitch.  In looking at the differences between both ways, I much prefer the plaited knitting to conventional.  It feels more comfortable for me.  I can do this more quickly than trying to switch to conventional knitting.  If you'd like to see what I mean, go to youtube and look up a video for "plaited knitting stitch" and you'll be able to see the difference, if you're a knitter.  It knits in the back side of the stitch instead of the front of the stitch. According to my book,

the plaited knitting stitch is a flatter stitch.  That is the only difference in how it looks.  I don't mind.  Really!  LOL  I've been knitting with this stitch since I picked up my knitting needles in 2005. 

As for continuing to learn about things, I'd like to learn how to do a couple simple lace scarves to go with my dresses to begin with.  I'd like to make them out of a varigaited silk.  I'll see what I can come up with.  This is what I am stretching myself with this year, in addition to the Scandanavian & Norwegian knitting.  I've been drawn to this type of knitting for a very long time. 

I love the challenge of learning something new.  I love working through patterns.  My only problem is overcoming the feeling of being overwhelmed because I don't know anyone locally to help me in case I come upon something that is difficult.  This is a challenge for me.  I go through every possible scenario in my head saying to myself, "What if I buy all the things I need to do this and the silk is expensive and whatever I make doesn't look nice?  I'll be wasting money!"  I know of many people who just jump in with both feet and plow through things like this.  Me?  I read and reread, looking up stitches and how to do them, watching videos and practicing on small swatches before I even get in to the actual piece.  I guess I just want to make sure I'm careful so that what I do will look nice and I don't waste money in the project.  That thought in and of itself is the biggest thing that is stopping me.  *sigh* 

So, I continue to practice and plan, stretching myself ever so slowly, growing and learning purposefully, methodically, every day.