Here's What I Tink

By Linda Schaefer, staff member

​​As much as we enjoy knitting and crocheting, we are all bound to hit a wall at some point  when working on a project. We get frustrated with our tension, with the pattern, with the  chosen yarn. It might be that our attention is drawn elsewhere and we just don’t get the  same satisfaction that we’re used to, or we’re in a low spot emotionally and don’t have  the mental energy to carry on. Sometimes we just need to take a break and explore  something different, and that’s ok. Coming back is always an option, and we return with  renewed energy. 

​Think about the reason you’ve taken up this craft in the first place. Perhaps you want to  learn something new. Perhaps your children are all grown and you need something to fill  the now somewhat empty hours. Are you looking for a way to challenge yourself, a way  to activate your brain in a new way? The excitement that gives birth to a new project can  reduce the frustration we’re bound to feel now and again when we make a mistake, and  mistakes are unavoidable elements of the experience.  

We get disappointed in ourselves when we find a mistake, perhaps because we ‘re stuck  on the hamster wheel of finishing something as quickly as possible instead of being in the  moment, in flow state. Mistakes often happen when we find ourselves shifting from doing  something for the enjoyment of it to racing toward a self-imposed (and perhaps  unrealistic) finish line. The journey can be ruined by a rush to get to the destination.  

I’ve been looking at mistakes through a different lens lately, and have decided that, for  me, the end result isn’t the only barometer of success. You may have heard us say,  “There are no mistakes, only lessons.” I always learn more when I do something “wrong”  than when I sail through a project. One of those lessons is really coming to understand  and recognize how my stitches are made and how they are supposed to look, and the way  that reveals itself is through tinking.  

Knitting and unknitting/tinking are the same thing at the most basic level. They both  involve moving stitches from one needle to the other, and both can be relaxing and  worthwhile. Here’s what I appreciate about unknitting: in addition to getting me back on  track when I’ve jumped the rails, I learn something every time. When faced with a case  of too many stitches, or too few stitches, or when I find a dropped or twisted stitch a few  rows back, tinking always leads to an “aha!” moment. Boy, do I love those “aha” moments  - it really is like a light going on in my head when I find the dropped stitch or the split  stitch or the extra yarn over. The “aha” moments are rewarding because the mistake is  always discoverable, and therein lies the joy and the lesson.  
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For me, there is value and great pleasure in the process of creating, separate and apart  from the end result. Those of you who know me and have seen my projects over the  years know that, in spite of my gauge swatches and attention to detail, what I end up  with isn’t always something I can wear. I used to get disappointed and frustrated at the  end of projects, but something has shifted in my approach to the practice, and I now try  to enjoy the journey of creating and learning something new in each project without  worrying about the outcome.