Frustration

I cast on 14 stitches and I literally sat there staring at my knitting needles for a good minute or two. I have no idea how to knit. I watched many videos leading up to this point to familiarize myself with the basic concepts, but it's one thing to watch a pro do it.

I first tried to do continental knitting, since it looked easy. It wasn't. Continental knitting is when the knitter knits with the working yarn in their left hand. It looked like less work, but my fingers just can't do it. So I tried the English method where the knitter knits with the working yarn in their right hand. Using this technique I was able to at least knit a few stitches.

Fast forward a few more rows and everything is looking great. Then I hit a speed bump. I for some reason had 15 stitches on my needles when I'm supposed to have 14. I had no idea what I did wrong or how to fix it, so I unraveled my work and tried again. Fast forward a few rows, and again the same thing happened. I magically picked up another stitch. Unravel, and try again. I must have unraveled and tried again 5 more times, and then frustration set in. Andrew said this would happen, but my perseverance pulled through. This problem has happened a few more times now, but I just ignore it and knit 2 stitches together. It seems to be working out okay so far.

Before long I had hit my first milestone. I completed the cabled band pattern once. I just have to repeat this pattern 5 more times to finish the band.