Practice

This is my very first swatch on the right, made two years ago when I started knitting.
I get lots of compliments on it now, but it didn't start out in the form it is now.
That skirt isn't lace: those are inadvertant yarnovers. And it wasn't meant to be circular; that's just how it ended up as I knitted on, going from garter to stockinette and apparently adding stitches as I went. I finally bound the thing off in disgust and tossed it in a basket. Months later I ran across it and noticed that it resembled a skirt. By then, I knew a bit more and so I picked up stitches along the top, did a couple of straps that crossed in back, and made a doll dress. Emily's toys get a lot of my goofs, actually.

One of these animals is wearing a practice cardigan. I learned some new stitches, and also that bears have very different proportions than people.

Knitting has taught me not to be afraid of swatching, or even ripping it all out when necessary. One of the first things I show my knitting students is frogging, so they won't be afraid to start over. That's what it's about anyway: inventing, reinventing, unventing.