Types of Knitters II

(You can find Part I here)

Maybe knitting habit has something to do with your zodiac sign. I was born in August and that makes me a Leo. No doubt the big hearted gal that I am, I could be quite sly. =p Anyway, that's during the PMS days. I'm not a meticulous person, I can even make mistakes while following the pattern instructions, strictly. Thus I'm a regular at the frog pond, and the incidences are too frequent to be reported.

I know not why, but knitters who kept on swatching and measuring their swatch really freak me out big time. Those are the knitters who worship Perfectionism. They need to have the exact yarn which the pattern called for, no subsitutes can come close. Or maybe they are just not that adventurous. But of course, only the original yarn can bring out the feel and look of the pictures in the book itself.

Even with the original yarn, the gauge could be a little different. so the Perfectionist knitter will keep trying with different sizes till gauge is attained. The logic is that you will be getting a much smaller or bigger finished object once the gauge is slightly off. My point is, even the person who knitted the very first piece of that pattern miight always have slight changes in gauge. So I guess its a give and take issue. And also whether you are able to live with the mistakes. I think it reflects every much on a person's character and what's their perception on the same issues.

On my part, I tend to do the short-cut way. If I am able to get the original yarn, God bless~~ Else I will look around for other people who may have subsitute with another yarn or a different needle size. And this is really faster; learning from other knitters' lessons. I really hate to knock myself against the wall resulting in bruises and blood before getting things correct. It also depends how precious the project is to me. If its gonna be huge (like FFL), I will definitely swatch, but if I'm able to find similar yarn (like 1952) I'll just go ahead and cast on, measuring as I go along. Call me the bummer knitter if you want, but I just find that knitting should be relaxing and fuss-free. Getting paranoid about how the end product wil be, is absolutely uncalled for.

So just sit back relax, and enjoy the process one stitch at a time.