Take a challenge

Yesterday I cast on a new fingerless glove pattern. I am feeling very full of myself as they are going very well even with cables covering the back of the hand. This is a big deal for me, not the cables so much as trying something new. I often knit the same thing over and over. Even big sweater projects. I've knit nearly 70 sweaters for Guideposts Knit for Kids not to mention dozens of pairs of socks, and fingerless gloves. All that knitting and it was only three different patterns. So yesterday when I finished my holiday knitting I cast on new gloves for myself.It's exciting to see something new on the needles. Though there is a basic language to knit patterns every designer writes just a little bit differently. There is always a spot in the project that gives me pause and makes me think things through. I am enjoying the challenge of this new pattern. I am proud of myself for sticking with the cable construction and figuring it out. All this has made me think about stretching my comfort zone, to maybe push just a little bit harder to try something new and maybe even uncomfortable. This is a good way to enter the new year with challenges in mind and excitement about them rather than foreboding. So what challenges you?