Every now and then I decide to change my ways.  Not just a slight shift, but a total
180-degree life-altering maneuver.  And,
as I am not above slinking back into old habits, I have decided to share my
newest knitting-related resolution:

I am going to rip back freely.  From now on.

I have always been reluctant to rip back –even in the case
of a glaring error (or a flashing neon light monstrosity of an error).   And I have sometimes let sleeping errors lie
(as in the case of the botched cast-on row in the ribbed cuff of a lace
cardigan – I always notice that ugly little ridge!) and sometimes I have made little
corrections or intentionally repeated the error (making it a “design element”) and
sometimes I have gritted my teeth and ripped back.

But I always considered ripping back the last resort.   Until recently.

What prompted this change in attitude?   There was no particular “ah-ha” moment, just
a gradual realization that ripping back is as properly a part of knitting as
swatching is –especially if one designs much of what one knits (as I do).  It seems pretty obvious – it IS pretty
obvious –but it has taken me a long time to realize it.

So, what took me so long? 
It is not that my stitches seemed too precious to pull out or that I
minded re-doing the section.  I simply had trouble giving myself
permission to take the time to do it!  

I have decided that my knitting is valuable enough to rip out.  Or rather, that my knitted pieces are worth
the time and effort it takes to get it right.

Since I came to this realization and resolution a few days
ago, I have been afforded several opportunities to put my new policy into
practice (thank you, mischievous knitting sprites!) and it has gone fairly
well.  Very little cussing on my
part.  To my shock and relief,  family life did not come to a crashing halt
because I spent another hour or so on a jacket front.   And the jacket front looks much better.

 I discovered another
reason why I like knitting:  when
something goes wrong, I can figure out what the problem is and I can fix it
MYSELF.  In this computer age, that is
something ! (don’t get me started on the indentation crisis I went through
writing this blog post…)