Here we go...

Hi! I haven't posted in over two years, but I am still knitting occasionally.

 I took a class from Amy Herzog in 2011 and then a class this month from Stephanie Pearl McPhee. Both classes have really challenged me to take a more serious look at my knitting and I find myself eager to learn more. This specifically applies to technique. I am a perfectionist in most areas of my life. I don't wear that as some kind of badge of honor, in fact I often wish I could just -stop- being a perfectionist, but that hasn't happened yet. I find myself often repeating the phrase "Don't let the perfect be the enemy of the GOOD (or good ENOUGH)." Oddly enough, this tendency has never kicked in when it comes to knitting. I routinely leave mistakes in my knitting, especially if they are not very obvious. I don't usually worry too much about if I am doing something the "right" way, as long as it turns out (mostly) like it should.

Now, I don't really want to suddenly become a perfectionist knitter or to focus on technique to the exclusion of relaxing enjoyment. BUT, I do want to learn more technique and more about how I should be doing things. These things don't make for more stressful knitting - they make for accomplished knitting. As long as one leaves room for the growth and the mistakes, it doesn't have to diminish the enjoyment at all.

 In the pursuit of this, I think I need to start knitting more regularly. I tend to knit for a while, then I might go four to six months without a single stitch. Not that there is anything wrong with that, but it doesn't make for improving one's craft.

 I also want to reach out a bit more to this knitting community. That's a bit harder for me as I am naturally shy with people I don't know. So the idea of commenting on the blogs of strangers seems...odd. But I'm going to give it a try.

 So here goes the blog, again. :) I am hopeful I can keep up with it. I was inspired by the blog of http://mysistersknitter.typepad.com/ because it seems like she only posts on Sundays. She has a lovely blog, I only recently stumbled on it but I am already hooked. So I feel like it might be possible to have a blog even if I can't blog 5 days a week. I'm hoping this will both hold me a little more accountable for knitting more frequently and also help me to connect with other knitters in the larger community.

So if you're reading, thanks! I hope you'll check back. :)