Having to Unlearn What You Thought You Knew

I wonder if I am completely alone in this experience.  A couple years ago I "learned" how to do the purl stitch.  I made a few items, but they never looked like it did in the picture (see photo for what I mean).  It was extremely discouraging.  I went back to the video on YouTube that I had "learned" the skill from to see if I was doing it correctly.  I was doing exactly what it showed in the video. 

I don't know what made me think to look down in the comments, but I did.  Reading through the comments I saw many people politely correcting the poster that they were showing purl through back loop and not purl.  I WAS doing it wrong.  Many of the posters linked to videos that correctly demonstrated the skill and I set out to correctly learn how to purl.  It was very difficult to undo the habits I had formed, but eventually I managed and now purling is natural and easy.

Maybe at some point I will reattempt the pattern that I did incorrectly to make this Christmas ornament and post it to the blog.  Mental note: add to do to list.

Have you ever learned to do something completely wrong and had to reteach yourself the right way?  Let me know in the comments if you have.

~Colleen