My first project was a bookmark. I had no idea what I was doing. (Still have that problem, ha, ha)
It took so long, that I thought I did something wrong. It was supposed to be a small gift for someone. I decided to do a test run with some thread colors I did not like. However, after an hour or two I had a bookmark sample, but never made the gift in the correct thread. I use the sample myself and say "what was I thinking for my first project? Now when I am not sure if I want to make something I look very closely at the stitch count and then decide.