I saw a headband in one of the popular crochet magazines and I thought I'd give it a try. I read through the instructions before I got started and I felt I had a pretty good understanding of what I needed to do. I finished the base chain and row 1, everything went well.
Then I started on row 2 and realized something was wrong and it had nothing to do with the crochet symbols, or stitches. I did not understand what the writer was telling me to do. No problem, I'll just read through everything again. I did that and there were no revelations for me, nothing clicked, I read, reread, and read again. I studied the few images that accompanied the instructions and I got nothing. I became frustrated and angry with the person who wrote the pattern.
Then I started to doubt myself, I couldn't sleep, it really bothered me that I couldn't figure out this pattern. It was a rough day. The next day I reluctantly picked up the magazine and read and reread again, this time I read the entire set of instructions. I also examined the pictures more closely. I finally figured it out. I slapped myself and I continued crocheting.
My Lessons Learned:
1). Read the entire set of instructions from the beginning to the end
2). Have an open mind
3). Use the pictures as a reference
4). Recognize that writers have their own writing style and may omit information they feel you should know
5). Look for a similar pattern by a different writer
6). Don't doubt yourself, keep trying
7). Enjoy the process
