I feel like "don't reinvent the wheel" is overused, and people use it to mean "never make a wheel". Everyone already knows what a wheel is, and making one is *so* easy that sometimes it makes sense if it's a better fit.
"Reinvent" is the key word here. If you vaguely knew what a wheel was and spent a year researching circles, rolling, and axels instead of just looking it up... that's what it means.
You're still allowed to have fun learning something the hard way I guess.