Blocking is not optional

Blocking is where the stitches stop being individual loops and start being cloth. Skip it and you're judging your work halfway through.

For wool, a proper soak — twenty minutes, lukewarm water, a little wool wash, no agitation — does most of the work. Press the water out in a towel, never wring.

Pin to the measurements in the schematic, not to the measurements you wish you had. The schematic is there so you don't have to guess.