Learning to knit - it's the other stuff

I am now well into (month three?) project #2 - a 'shawlette' -- a mini shawl which I thought would be a perfect project. Not too big. Not too small. Not too artsy. Not too plain. Not too hard. Just right, wearable and useful. That was the theory. I picked the 'Holden Shawlette' from Ravelry, one of the most popular ones and suitable for the beginning intermediate knitter.
I saw I am well into the project, meaning I have now ripped it back four, 4 four! times. But, on the positive side, I am beginning to 1) understand the pattern and 2) am beginning to understand what learning to knit really means. It does not mean learning to knit and purl....well, okay, it includes that but, it really means knowing:

• what row you are on!
• what side you are knitting, the front or the back
• how to unravel
• why, when and how to use stitch markers
• how to keep the stitches on the needle
• how to count stitches
• how to fix mistakes
• knowing when good enough is good enough and when it isn't!

[Photo: Note the use of paper clips
 as stitch markers!]