Thank Goodness for Mistakes!

I screwed up a few days back. My lilac scarf was looking so good and then I got distracted during the Red Sox game, but my fingers kept working. Next thing I know, I examined the knitting I had completed and found that 4 inches back I had created an S-turn instead of a braided cable. Now what do I do?

I was so mad at myself that I just pulled out the needles and ripped the yarn back past the error, into a big pile of yarn spaghetti. I briefly thought about picking up the stitches and attempting to get back on track, but I just couldn't. So I threw the scarf into my basket and assumed that it would stay there until I need the yarn for some other project. Cables defeated me again.

I glanced at it the next day, but just didn't want to deal with it. Then last evening I decided I was only undermining myself and I had better get over it if I wanted to grow as a knitter! I picked up the tangled mess, slowly picked up the stitches, though I wasn't sure which way they should face, and then...

...I pulled out the needles and ripped out one more row. That's right. I decided that the previous wrong side row would be easier to try to decipher so I picked those stitches up and started over. This time I paid close attention to how the cables really worked instead of just checking off rows of pattern. By paying attention to how my cable needle position affected the twist of the cable, I learned so much more and found that I didn't need to check off rows because I now could recognize where I was in the pattern. This was such an amazing moment of realization for me!

So I must be thankful for this happy mistake and the knowledge that I gained with it. I only hope that I will think of this when, inevitably, the next mistake occurs. May I face it with the optimism of what I may gain from it.