I absolutely loved Hollow Knight, it was a much needed proof to me that video games can still be fun and suck me in.
I never played any souls game before it for more than a few minutes at a friends place and in the mid game I too thought that I would not be able to finish it. But I'd say I got quite good at it by just playing the way I wanted to and exploring. Yes, I did have to leave some bosses and come back later, but it always felt doable and never unfair. Granted, I did not complete the whole 112% of the game, but that's something that I liked about it, it felt like I could do all that I wanted, felt satisfied with and leave.
Anyway, my point is, don't worry about the difficulty too much, I think the game is balanced in such a way, where there are always things to do at your skill level.
Also, if you don't feel like you are getting better at it and just getting better gear, I'd recommend starting a new temporary save and seeing how far you can get to without dying. I cannot describe how much this surprised me, how all the patterns I memorized stayed with me and how much I could do with minimal upgrades.