Knitting through your fears

Two months ago, I introduced you to my sister-in-law Linda and her journey to knit the Wanderer wrap as a new knitter. (Read Part I) 

This weekend, I made a quick trip home to visit family in Northern Lower Michigan and connected with Linda to check in on her progress. Ready to be blown away? 

Look at this! Linda only started knitting this year, completing just two hats in chunky yarn on US size 13 and 15 needles. I'm blown away and so stinking proud of her.

When I looked over the knitting, I couldn't find a mistake. Linda confessed that when she cast on, she still wasn't sure she could do this project. That confession was a surprise to me since when I left her in August, she was expressing total confidence. Frankly, Linda is showing us another lesson - that 'fake it til we make it' lesson. If we wait until we have confidence, we will never achieve what we want. In fact, the way we gain confidence is by doing the thing. 

Knitting in cashmere yarn

Back to Linda's knitting. After her first swatch, we determined she should try a different needle size and do another swatch. Her first swatch was a bit loose. Looking back, that could simply have been her inexperience because this trip, Linda showed me that she had knit a few swatches - both in the wrap's lace pattern and in stockinette. Her washed swatches showed beautiful even, tighter stitches. Linda said she felt that swatching was the practice she needed to have success on the wrap itself and to achieve a fabric she loves. Hopefully, this process has made Linda a life-long believer in swatching! 

Enjoying the knitting process

Linda said early on that she was willing to do the preliminary steps, the swatching and gauge testing, because she was creating an heirloom garment, one to pass down to her daughters. I love that. Linda is embracing the process, understanding that when we make garments and accessories from high quality materials, such as our cashmere yarn, we honor our time, energy, and skill on items that will last.

 Until next time, enjoy knitting with our yarn.  -Amy

p.s.

You, too, can make the Wanderer. We sell the kits at about a 10% discount than if you bought yarn, kit bag, and pattern separately. Get your kit here: Wanderer Kit

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