Frustration Level

As a teacher, I am on the lookout for when my students hit their "frustration level" with a project; it's that point where they really need some support or they're not going to be able to move on. If they don't get the support (or sometimes they just need a break), they tend to give up and throw in the towel. 

Of course, we don't want kids to throw in the towel, but some of our best learning happens right before our "frustration level" peaks. This has been good for me, because this week I hit my own frustration level in my project. 

It's the magic circle, again, and it's giving me FITS!

I want to master this so I can make dish scrubbies. I bought the special yarn for this, as you might remember, and even got a bigger hook to accommodate the thicker yarn. At this point, I don't think I will ever be able to start a magic circle without the step-by-step tutorial, which I now have to watch about five times before I get mine started. BUT! I am able to at least get the circle started and do the first round. I am not terribly pleased with this magic circle. As you can see in the picture, the hole in the center is not all the way closed up, and it is supposed to be. I'm not sure if that's the yarn thickness causing that or what, but the whole point of the magic circle is that you do not have a hole in the center.

I can live with that hole in the middle though. The bigger issue I'm facing is that I still cannot figure out how to get this thing to lay flat! You may not be able to tell in the picture below, but it is taking on a bowl shape. I need to find a written pattern for scrubbies, and I think I have one saved on my pinterest board. (I have learned that I prefer a written pattern to a video if it's something I know how to do. If I need to see how to do something, I prefer a video to a diagram.) I think I might be missing a chain or two or a slip stitch at the end of each round.

I will be in a Hobby Lobby town this weekend, and something I need to buy is a stitch marker. Very helpful in a circle project for seeing where one round ends and another begins!

I also need to pick up some more yarn! I thought I could finish a potholder, and you can see how close this one is to being done, but I need just a little more. I think one more skein will finish this and do another one. Do you like these colors? 

I hope you are not at your "frustration level" with your project, but if you are, do not give up now! This is where the best learning happens! Stick with it!