New Year Resolutions

http://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/ten-stitch-twist

A new year feels like a fresh start for many people. We set resolutions and think about goals for the coming months. I often think we fall short of those goals because we choose ones that are too lofty. They appear too far off in the future. For the past couple of years I've shifted my focus from the final goal to attention on tiny little improvements. As knitters we know that small things (stitches) add up to big things (blankets) when given regular attention over long periods of time.

Planing fallacy refers to the phenomenon that people and organizations tend to underestimate the amount of time it takes to reach a given goal. The opposite seems to occur when we look at large tasks or goals and give up before we even start because the end seems to be impossibly far away.

I often hear non-knitters say they don't have the patience to knit but we knitters know knitting helps you to be more patient. This year, if you are thinking about making habit changes which seem overwhelming, try remembering your last knitting project and know according to Things I Learned From Knitting: ...whether I wanted to or not by Stephanie Pearl-McPhee a pair of adult socks takes about 22,000 stitches. When I look back over my knitting career I simply can't imagine the total number of stitches I've created! All those tiny little steps have added up to an amazing number. It makes big projects broken into tiny steps look much more reasonable doesn't it?