Different Directions

In Left Turns from Sioux's Page, Sioux asks,

“What kind of left turn have you experienced lately?”

When I decide that I’m going to knit a pair of socks, I get excited about the thought. I love knitting socks! In fact, this year, I’m hoping to knit 12 pairs of socks by the end of the year.

In January, I picked out the pattern that I wanted to follow and then chose the yarn that I had. This yarn was in my stash since last June. I love the colors and the feel of the yarn but I’ve been reluctant to use it in my knitting because it is so beautiful. But one of the knitting challenges I’m participating in is called Don’t Hoard The Precious means that I’m trying to use some yarn that I bought last year instead of just hoarding it.

I started on the foot and really loved knitting on my socks. I knit the pattern on the top of the foot but didn’t on the sole because I don’t like walking on the patterns. Once I added the heels, I started the pattern up the leg. When I finished the leg and was about to add the cuff, I stopped to try them on. I couldn’t believe that they didn’t fit over my foot! It was too small.

I ended up ripping out the socks all the way to the foot and reknitting the socks. I needed to make sure that I spread the yarn out more so they wouldn’t be so tight. I kept trying them on as I knit up the leg. They are still a little tight over the foot but I reused to rip out the socks yet again.

So, basically, I just about knit up 2 pairs of socks this month! I didn’t want to do this but I did it.

This reminded me of how many times I plan a lesson and it doesn’t go the way I had hoped. I’m usually more excited about before and sometimes disappointed afterward when the students aren’t as excited about the lesson as I was.

Sometimes a student hopes to learn how to do something faster than it actually happens. They get frustrated and lash out in anger.

It is important to explain to students that we all take different directions sometimes when we are learning. It is important to keep trying and not give up.  Sometimes when we find ourselves going in a different direction, we need to decide if we want to keep going that way or work our way back to the right road. It is also important that as a teacher I help them go in the direction that they need to go.

Have you ever ended up going in a different direction than what you intended? Please share.