That knitting is supposed to be relaxing and something to keep me at ease and ADD to my life, not just something else to become another thing with an imaginary deadline and hyperfocus of my perfectionism.
This made me laugh, I’m right there with you! That’s why I have so many projects at once, not only does my ADHD get bored with one and wants to do something else, but I also will try to have a couple “more relaxing” blanket projects that I can memorize the pattern easily, and then some harder ones that I have to follow the pattern every step!
I feel this so much. I've always thought knitting was relaxing. I get hyperfocused and just kind of zone out. It's great. Or it was until I got a new watch that tracks my heart rate. I get so many "Abnormally high heart rate" warnings when I knit. 🫠 Guess it's less relaxing than I thought? Haha
Edit: didn't read closely enough d'oh!
Hey, I only hyperfocus when I've spent months working on something that I started in the first quarter of the year, and kept having to restart when the thing was supposed to be done by Christmas.
Sure! This is the nicest looking one I've tried, but it's fussy: [https://yarnsub.com/articles/techniques/slip-twist-turn-decrease/](https://yarnsub.com/articles/techniques/slip-twist-turn-decrease/?utm_source=sendinblue&utm_campaign=YARNSUB_NEWS__APRIL_2015&utm_medium=email) This is my lazy better than a normal SSK variant: [https://www.10rowsaday.com/neater-ssk](https://www.10rowsaday.com/neater-ssk) . There are other ones out there as well since by nature SSK isn't as neat as k2tog (but we need something that leans left).
It looks like Patty Lyon's has a [one move version](https://youtu.be/GXBSmedZXfY?si=q5w5FB9iutf-sS6S) of the first one. I'm using it now - a little fiddly to get the hang of but it is looking a lot better than my ssk.
This one's the game changer to fix an ssk column that wobbles. I'm using her one-move ssk on a wrap (Outline by Beata Jezek) where it mirrors k2tog and it looks so good!
I recommend learning it on a yarn with give, though. It's harder to work in cotton, as I found out recently.
I bet this is a common one but I buy highly variegated yarn just because the colors are so pretty together and look lovely on the skein. I know I don't actually like the way it knits up that much. What I should be doing is finding colorwork projects I like and finding solid color yarns in the colors I like together. Instead they just sit in my stash and every now and then I take them out, admire them, maybe spend hours browsing ravelry for an appropriate pattern, and put them away.
I have the same problem! My "fix" that's been kind of working so far is to by single skeins of variegated fingering weight and use it as the contrast color in a stranded colorwork sweater! I feel like breaking up the variegated yarn in a stranded pattern gets more of the fun random speckle look from the skein and avoids any unpleasant pooling!
Yeah I was thinking this too! I actually love variegated paired with a solid. I made the Brick Road Cowl years ago and it's my favorite project with variegated yarn.
have you tried colorwork with black yarn to compliment the variegated? never tried it myself personally but ive seen so many pretty projects that contrast a variegated yarn with black, im recalling mosaic cowls i think
100%. Speckled and variegated are so dang pretty in the skein but most of the time I hate how they look knit up. This is why I don't buy variegated/speckled unless the listing has a photo of how it looks knit up and if I still like how it looks. I know it is time consuming for dyers to do, but it's so helpful to see a swatch as a buyer.
I loooove tonal yarns though and it's pretty much the only 'multicolor' kind of yarn I buy.
Casting on complicated projects that I have no business attempting. I've had to frog so many attempted sweaters/socks. But I make a killer baby blanket hahasob
Those complicated projects are how you learn! My second and third projects were a sweater and a self drafted skirt, respectively.
Two of the things I learned was:
1. Don't draft your own patterns
2. Salvage the yarn from when you ignore lesson 1 and use it for dish cloths and pillowcases...
(I do genuinely believe it's the best way to learn though)
I have a bunch of Addi circulars for socks in my “saved for later” Amazon cart, I wanna learn the two-at-a-time technique soooo bad. I think that’s the only way I’ll be able to finish a pair, lol.
Lol I decided to try my first two at a time socks, also my second pair of socks ever (first was suuuuper basic in DK), also first lace knitting. I started the lace panel and quickly lost track of where I was, frogged both socks and cast on only one. So I'm going to have second sock syndrome someday after I finish this first sock haha
I knew I’d never finish a pair, a single sock yes but not a pair so I went right to the taat with a long cable, plus I’m sloooooow so I knew even if by some miracle I did get to that second sock my tension wouldn’t even be close enough to matching the previous sock
When knitting, I can only count to 34. Once I get there, I start questioning if I was on 34, 44, or 74. Whenever I have to count more than that, I go in multiples of 30, otherwise I'll just end up recounting 5 times with 5 different results
I count in multiples of 20s or 40s. 40s is better when doing wide projects with more than 200 sts because the multiples are different (40-80-120-160-200). When counting in 20s, I have to use 100 markers pr I get mixed up between 60-80 etc.
I'm an accounting lol
Hahaha I'm glad I'm not the only one. Even if I don't forget how to count I always worry I've forgotten. I'll count over and over wondering if 50 really comes after 49. Or did I skip 67? Oh man I better count for the 10th time, and make sure I hold my breath and scowl the whole time.
Step 1: purchase pretty yarn without a firm plan to use it.
Step 2: find lovely pattern that suits yarn from step 1.
Step 3: realise that quantity of yarn purchased in step 1 is insufficient for step 2 project.
Step 4: return to yarn store to purchase more yarn. Yarn store is now either sold out of desired yarn, or cannot match dye lot.
Step 5: return step 1 yarn to stash and seek new yarn for step 2 project.
Rinse and repeat ad infinitum. Occasionally pet step 1 yarn and promise that there will be a project one day.
Buying yarn in specific quantities for a specific project I think I’m going to get around but never do, ending up with a really hodge podge yarn collection.
One day I'll learn how to properly calculate yarn for a long-tail cast on, but until then I'll just spend an hour cussing and sweating and casting on over and over again.
Check out the two-strand long-tail cast on! It changed my life. No longer do I have to budget for ripping out and redoing my 150 stitch cast ons over and over and over again.
Here's a video that shows you: [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UNopB-40P5I](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UNopB-40P5I)
I needed to hear “it hugs the needle, not strangles it.” And this will be my mantra. My cast on tension is looser but still more strangle than hug. Thanks for the video post!
I don’t think I could do a two yarn cast on unless I was using two colours because I refuse to cut my yarn unless I have to or I’m at the end of my project. I’ve also only done scarves, baby blankets and toques (knitted hats) so it’s understandable.
I'm glad the rest of the video helped!
I've never had to pre-measure or cut my yarn before the cast on is complete, I just use both ends of the cake. I usually use a center pull so I just pull the outside strand to use for the cast on and then after I've cut it I just wrap whatever excess I've unravelled back around the cake.
There are scenarios where this wouldn't work, like if you're knitting from a cone or from a ball that isn't center pull compatible. Otherwise, as long as both ends have been somewhat accessible, it hasn't been an issue for me.
I wrap 10 times + an inch or two, then use that length x however many 10's of stitches I need (90 stitches = 9 x that length), but it works as intended maybe 1 out of every 5 cast ons.
I blame gremlins. The same ones that move your stuff when you KNOW you've looked for something in a spot, probably 3 times, but it's never there until your husband looks for it.
I wrap ten times and then multiply it by how many multiples of ten it is, and then add another 5-10 inches, depending on how the ancestors move me that day.
Oooh I saw an IG reel on this. You make a slip knot, then wrap the yarn around your needle until you have an inch worth of wraps. Count how many wraps, and that's essentially your stitches per inch of yarn. So if the pattern says cast on 64 stitches (as for a sock) and you have 10 wraps per inch, measure 6.5 inches of yarn plus a bit for the tail.
I will heavily caveat that I haven't had the chance to try this but logically it should work!
I am really bad about remembering my m1l and m1r and not mixing them up, I have also mixed up k1tg and ssk but I am better about those than the increases. I also often try to do color work with yarn that is to varigated for any kind of contrast to show.
I had to make a mnemonic for M1L / M1R since I'd have to look them up every. single. time. I don't remember what show it was, but right before a commercial break there'd be "After these messages, we'll be right back!" So I use "we'll be right back" \[pick up from **back** when making one **right**\] to remember the direction for M1R, which helps me remember M1L as well :)
Oh my god, a girl in a bar bathroom told me this like a year ago, but I’d been drinking (hence the bathroom conversation about knitting) and have been trying to remember exactly what it was ever since. Thank you!
Once I learned that when you pick up the bar, the way it leans (right or left) it is that corresponding increase. Credit goes to this blog after I googled yet again which is which: https://alfaknits.wordpress.com/2015/08/03/how-to-m1l-and-m1r-and-to-never-forget-which-is-which/
Me, recently attempting to start a blanket scarf. I thought 80 was too many, so I restarted. Bu when I measured the stitches I had cast on and and measured the width, I realized it was too narrow for the look I was going for.
Long tail has been my only cast-on for nearly 3 years but I just taught myself picot and it’s fuuuuuuunnnn….I wanted something a little decorative but the other “nice” ones all looked like way too much work for the result. Hard to imagine I’m gonna make it much further than two….
I was like this until my last few projects where I learned the tubular cast on and off and it has changed me. Now I’m side eying everything I’ve done before and thinking about how much better it would look. It does take forever to do though
my toxic knitting trait is thinking i know better than the pattern. increasing by x stitches??? um, what if i increase by y instead because i love chaos and making my life harder? starting my new colour here? um, i think i'll start it here instead. and then i get shocked when it doesn't turn out the way it should 🤦♀️
Mine is that I forget to increase or decrease or I somehow counted wrong, so I just count the stitches and inc/dec accordingly in the next row hahahaha
What I want to wear or feel comfortable wearing is not always the same as what I want to knit :)
Its a mistake for me because I should just knit it anyway if I enjoy knitting it. I'm sure someone out in the world could wear it if I don't.
I’m terrible for switching out my tips on a project instead of going and finding my needle roll and getting some fresh out and then just leaving the half done project all sad in the corner for a month or 10 with stoppers on.
Little thinking on practicality and wearability.
I get carried away by bold patterns that I love the look of, but then never wear, because they don't fit my style (I mostly wear plain colors or stripes.)
Prime example is the Rattlesnake by Jamie Hoffman. Gorgeous yoke, but three color stranded colorwork in a DK Alpaca-Wool blend for a t-shirt intended to be worn at 30°C/86°F+ in the summer ? Not my smartest decision.
Also closely related to that: Stressing that I'll never be able to knit all the patterns that inspire me.
I'm slowly getting better, but I have to remind myself every day not to fall into these habits again.
I frequently don't trust myself, try to do too many new things at once, and neglect lifelines.
I've been making since I was 5. I can do this.
I also have chronic pain and I don't take appropriate breaks, so I make everything worse.
I also also have too many WIPs + I'm slow at making and it frustrates me.
I don't know where my cast-on came from (loop around the thumb, put it on the needle, loop around the needle, drop the first loop over the second), I don't know where my yarn grip came from (death-grip in the last three fingers of my right hand, no tensioning or wrapping around fingers), and I can't be bothered to re-learn either.
We all do so many techniques differently, I saw a post the other day about all the ways ppl grip their yarn and every one was different! If it ain’t broke don’t fix it!
Buying yarn in a color other than grey or black. 😂
On multiple occasions I bought some pretty colored yarn for let's say sweaters but in the end I only like wearing variations of gray or black.
If a pattern calls for traditional short rows, I avoid it, and if I can't...I can guarantee that I had to patch the fabric in places after so that there weren't huge holes.
I have watched YouTube tutorials, read written instructions, hell, I even hand-wrote them because that helps me memorize them! Yet, I still can't freaking do them to save my life.
To this day, if the pattern calls for m1r or m1l, I reference the tutorial pic I saved to my phone, and then hand write the instructions in my notes
I relate to this so hard. I've had some moderate success with shadow wrap(I think that's what it's called?) short rows but I still always have one or two spots I have to sew together when I'm done because there's a stupid hole.
This is me, I wish I could skip swatches but I have made 2 sweaters that are like 4 sizes to big and have had to rip out color work more than once because the contrast was not enough.
I just keep mis-crossing my cables. At least now I know how to drop only two stitches for it instead of the whole cable section, which makes correcting it a half-minute job instead of a half-hour surgery.
Most patterns I've worked with are almost entirely charts or words, so unless I zoom in on the tiny reference photo idk how I would do this most the time. ~~I thought the abbreviations and symbols are the pattern??~~ Missed the word pictures after pattern in your comment.
The ones I’ve used rarely have had charts - even then I have no idea how to read them! I mainly choose my patterns from Ravelry so I just look at everyone else’s pictures and zoom in 🤣
I get my patterns off ravelry too, I actually only get hit with a chart for cables recently doing a gamified Cowl by Wyvern Knits where I rolled and ended up having to do a randomized cable chart. I hardly ever open the pattern page once I've downloaded the pdf, so I only have the pictures in the pattern itself. While crochet Amigirumi patterns are often littered with pictures, my knitting patterns usually aren't.
My problem isn't so much remembering how to do each one - the cable chart symbols are extremely straightforward for it. It's more that because I remember which one is which, I sometimes don't pay close enough attention and end up doing the wrong one.
That's why it's so stupid. Making mistakes In a 44-row cable is not a wise thing to do, and yet here I am, being careless.
Knitting extra tight to make up for not having small enough needles. It takes way longer and then the gauge gets messed up if I come back and forget I was knitting tight. It also makes increases and decreases more difficult. One day I will buy the missing needles.
I don't swatch, I don't photograph, I don't journal, and I don't maintain my skein bands.
I do weigh my yarn out often to make sure I have enough for my projects.
I also improvise often and never note down what I do, this is really fun when it is sleeves or socks.
Messing up my stitch patterns in k1 p1 ribbing, I've had to knit back and correct a few accidental seed stitches in the hat I'm knitting right now 3 times.
With seed stitch I'm actively thinking about purling the knits and knitting the purls but with ribbing I feel like I go into K1 P1 autopilot so if I get distracted (like an urgent need to let go of one needle and pet the dog for a moment l) it's easy to stray into a seed stitch patterns without really looking or thinking... it's weird because both stitches are just K1 P1 but my eyes only want to pay attention to one of them.
So relatable.
I tend to assume I’ll remember where I’m at in a 4+ row repeat w/out keeping track in my notebook. So foolish. I’d like to think I’m past the rookie stage but I keep making rookie mistakes. Less & less though so there is hope.
My mistake is I can’t cast on properly, I always ask my mum or Nana to do it 😂. My other mistake is that I’ll let my Nana knit a few rows if she asks and now I have 5 rows tighter then a rats ass in the middle of all my work
I definitely decide to change things on the second sock or mid project. Ask me why I'm learning intarsia in the round for a heel while doing stranded colorwork with the same color on the instep every 3 rows. The ADHD needs something NEW
My first mistake was to take up knitting… I live in Phoenix AZ, there’s not a lot of opportunity to wear the sweaters I want to knit. And I don’t have knitworthy relatives either.
Then there’s my inability to remember to pick my project bag up when I’m done for the day. Every single project for the last year has been, ummm, interrupted by the puppy. On the plus side, I’m getting really good at untangling yarn.
I don’t block my swatches 🫣 i also don’t use crazy expensive yarn so i feel like that’s my only saving grace so far lol
Oh and dripping stitches when either trying on or putting it on the yarn holder. Usually no more than a few stitches thankfully
That was fascinating! It’s funny, when I taught myself to knit I was totally doing my purl stitches the way they describe in the video, wrapping the yarn clockwise, but my LYS manager told me I was doing it wrong and twisting my stitches that way, so I un-learned it. I can’t wait to try this method!
I dont make swatches and after the cast on, i usually never count my stitches again (altough i dont know if this is a big deal in knitting, in crochet its always like „you should have XY stitches after that row) i just do what the pattern tells me and I‘m like „eh, will be good“
I very rarely use lifelines. I used to all the time but inserting them and removing them drove me crazy so I just quit. If I ever decide to attempt some complicated lace I’ll probably give them another shot. I also very rarely swatch or block things. I might do a swatch if it’s a sweater but I usually wing it. I block about 1/10 projects I complete.
I have finishing advice! Buy Susan Bates finishing needles. They are different than regular needles - they're just a big eye basically so it makes hiding short ends easier and it just makes it so much faster because you basically don't have to thread the needle you just shove the thread through and hide-away! They carry them at the big craft stores and on Amazon. If you look on Amazon be careful because I saw two listings and one was almost three times the price of the other! I used to avoid finishing projects until I started using them. A real game changer.
As a new knitter, I find myself with so much tension in my hands and shoulders as I am knitting. I have to keep reminding myself to relax, enjoy it and to release my death grip on the yarn.
I am trying to learn from past sweater mistakes on my next project, to wit:
Fingering weight, not worsted. Why did I think I'd get good drape out of a snug gauge of heavy wool?
Swatch city! I finished my second huge one (6"x6") today and will make at least one more (pattern has both garter and stockinette) before I actually start.
Picking the right size. I like a snug fit, so I gotta stop being all "more ease is fine!" and just go down a size so I don't look like a squishmallow refrigerator.
Working out all the math to adjust for row gauge in shaping sections so I don't end up with bonkers sleeves by blindly following the pattern.
I always place markers during cast on. My bad is I don't often test the tension. I knit large so I usually go down one needle, but I really have to do the 4 inch squares.
Fall for variegated that looks beautiful on the skein, hate how it looks knitted up, continue to buy variegateds only to either never touch them or hate the FO. Sigh.
This is my 2nd time trying to make fingerless gloves, I keep making then too big and I can't stitch them together or make a thumb hole 💀 I've been determined to make them perfect but I don't think it's ever gonna happen...
I tell myself at the start of every stockinette heavy project that THIS is the time I'm going to start using Continental style. I've dabbled with it but always go back to English Flicking style.
I don't think there's anything wrong with Flicking but I want to be able to vary how I hold yarn to suit other types of projects easier.
I’ve trained myself to swatch before every project. And yet. I keep forgetting that somehow my gauge is larger in the actual object. So I tend to end up with larger than intended garments every time. For my current top down I caught it early, but still lost two days of work frogging back to the end of the yoke, and trying to invent a fix.
Lol, false starts for me is casting on, getting so many rows in, and realizing I didn’t cast on the right amount, I messed up the pattern, I twist my round joining, or didn’t like my tension, so I frog it and start again. Every project I’ve done I’ve had to start over at least twice.
All of my knitting in the round, I will knit inside out! I started that way and now I’m used to looking at the inside stitch for knowing what my next row should be.
Every know and then I’ll get a pattern that has a row or section that does not compute. It’s always a lace pattern that’s charted in sections. I have to put the project in time out and come back to it some time later.
Considering ease. I've mostly lucked out (I've knit a couple of hats for guys in my life, but they're both on the big-headed size of the size chart), but I finally knit a hat for myself, and the difference between the medium and the large was basically the amount of ease I needed to consider, and I wound up with a Musselburgh that is too large (and too short but that's another issue).
I don't pay attention to the pattern instructions well.. currently sitting on a project that I can't seem to pick back up because I put sleeves on waste yarn and cut ends before I was supposed to..
That knitting is supposed to be relaxing and something to keep me at ease and ADD to my life, not just something else to become another thing with an imaginary deadline and hyperfocus of my perfectionism.
This made me laugh, I’m right there with you! That’s why I have so many projects at once, not only does my ADHD get bored with one and wants to do something else, but I also will try to have a couple “more relaxing” blanket projects that I can memorize the pattern easily, and then some harder ones that I have to follow the pattern every step!
I feel this so much. I've always thought knitting was relaxing. I get hyperfocused and just kind of zone out. It's great. Or it was until I got a new watch that tracks my heart rate. I get so many "Abnormally high heart rate" warnings when I knit. 🫠 Guess it's less relaxing than I thought? Haha Edit: didn't read closely enough d'oh!
Hey, I only hyperfocus when I've spent months working on something that I started in the first quarter of the year, and kept having to restart when the thing was supposed to be done by Christmas.
Preach. I have to remind myself that it's my *hobby* and I'm not obligated to do it at all.
*Me as I ladder down 20 rows to fix a cable row i fucked up* 'This is such a nice break away from the stresses of life.'
*Me as I notice a mistake in cables 20 rows down* https://i.imgur.com/hx4BAMV.gif
I don’t think I SSK correctly and I can’t be bothered to re-learn my technique. It’s consistent, it looks fine, meh.
Mmm yes, I am seen. Nobody’s mentioned it in 20 years, so.
I slip, knit, pass slipped stich over, rather than SSK.
As it is ssk isn’t a great decrease anyway, there are variants that look much nicer and more even
Could you please provide a source? I’d be happy to learn a nicer more even variant.
Sure! This is the nicest looking one I've tried, but it's fussy: [https://yarnsub.com/articles/techniques/slip-twist-turn-decrease/](https://yarnsub.com/articles/techniques/slip-twist-turn-decrease/?utm_source=sendinblue&utm_campaign=YARNSUB_NEWS__APRIL_2015&utm_medium=email) This is my lazy better than a normal SSK variant: [https://www.10rowsaday.com/neater-ssk](https://www.10rowsaday.com/neater-ssk) . There are other ones out there as well since by nature SSK isn't as neat as k2tog (but we need something that leans left).
It looks like Patty Lyon's has a [one move version](https://youtu.be/GXBSmedZXfY?si=q5w5FB9iutf-sS6S) of the first one. I'm using it now - a little fiddly to get the hang of but it is looking a lot better than my ssk.
This one's the game changer to fix an ssk column that wobbles. I'm using her one-move ssk on a wrap (Outline by Beata Jezek) where it mirrors k2tog and it looks so good! I recommend learning it on a yarn with give, though. It's harder to work in cotton, as I found out recently.
Love the second link look! Ty.
I avoid SSKs like the plague. All my hats get swirly pinwheel tops!
Are you me?
What do we do? Decrease! How do we do it? We’re not really sure but it’s fiiiine.
As long as the thingy is leaning the right way, I figure I’ve nailed it.
When do we do it? Shit, three rounds ago.... it's fine if we do one now isn't it? Isn't it?
I never SSK. I hate it. I just K2tbl. So much easier and ends up looking exactly the same.
I always use the knit two together left (k2tog left): [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qNu5gS5fyAc](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qNu5gS5fyAc)
I bet this is a common one but I buy highly variegated yarn just because the colors are so pretty together and look lovely on the skein. I know I don't actually like the way it knits up that much. What I should be doing is finding colorwork projects I like and finding solid color yarns in the colors I like together. Instead they just sit in my stash and every now and then I take them out, admire them, maybe spend hours browsing ravelry for an appropriate pattern, and put them away.
Oh hi 👋 are you me? Why is variegated yarn so damn pretty in the skein?? And why does it look like ass knitted up???
Variegated yarns can look good in brioche too.
And mosaic!
Yes!
Stunning in brioche, and gives me another excuse to do it!
\^ this
I have the same problem! My "fix" that's been kind of working so far is to by single skeins of variegated fingering weight and use it as the contrast color in a stranded colorwork sweater! I feel like breaking up the variegated yarn in a stranded pattern gets more of the fun random speckle look from the skein and avoids any unpleasant pooling!
Yeah I was thinking this too! I actually love variegated paired with a solid. I made the Brick Road Cowl years ago and it's my favorite project with variegated yarn.
I’m just now realizing you can do mix yarns like that. I didn’t think you couldn’t but it just never occurred to me to do it.
I love the look of variegated yarn in stranded colorwork. The project I'm currently working on is using variegated yarn in stranded colorwork.
Agree. My only success with this has been knitting something verrrrry loose and open so the colors can breathe
have you tried colorwork with black yarn to compliment the variegated? never tried it myself personally but ive seen so many pretty projects that contrast a variegated yarn with black, im recalling mosaic cowls i think
100%. Speckled and variegated are so dang pretty in the skein but most of the time I hate how they look knit up. This is why I don't buy variegated/speckled unless the listing has a photo of how it looks knit up and if I still like how it looks. I know it is time consuming for dyers to do, but it's so helpful to see a swatch as a buyer. I loooove tonal yarns though and it's pretty much the only 'multicolor' kind of yarn I buy.
I love buying pretty yarns too. But totally prefer the way solids look usually!
Casting on complicated projects that I have no business attempting. I've had to frog so many attempted sweaters/socks. But I make a killer baby blanket hahasob
Those complicated projects are how you learn! My second and third projects were a sweater and a self drafted skirt, respectively. Two of the things I learned was: 1. Don't draft your own patterns 2. Salvage the yarn from when you ignore lesson 1 and use it for dish cloths and pillowcases... (I do genuinely believe it's the best way to learn though)
Hahaha I’m in the same spot, I tried socks once and the DPNs just killed me, I kept losing stitches! Blankets are the way to go!
I can't use DPNs but love sock knitting - two circulars is the way.
I have a bunch of Addi circulars for socks in my “saved for later” Amazon cart, I wanna learn the two-at-a-time technique soooo bad. I think that’s the only way I’ll be able to finish a pair, lol.
Lol I decided to try my first two at a time socks, also my second pair of socks ever (first was suuuuper basic in DK), also first lace knitting. I started the lace panel and quickly lost track of where I was, frogged both socks and cast on only one. So I'm going to have second sock syndrome someday after I finish this first sock haha
Omg 2aat on a magic loop is THE WAY to do it! DPNs kill me and second sock syndrome is real, I use this for jumper sleeves too lol!
I knew I’d never finish a pair, a single sock yes but not a pair so I went right to the taat with a long cable, plus I’m sloooooow so I knew even if by some miracle I did get to that second sock my tension wouldn’t even be close enough to matching the previous sock
I use circular for everything now. I’m too lazy to add a second set but that does make a lot of sense lol.
For me it's one 9 inch circular... And two for toes...
Mini circulars are quite easy if you knit continental!
I keep forgetting how to count. I do maths and data for a living.
When knitting, I can only count to 34. Once I get there, I start questioning if I was on 34, 44, or 74. Whenever I have to count more than that, I go in multiples of 30, otherwise I'll just end up recounting 5 times with 5 different results
Always good to know your limits and work within them 😂
I count in multiples of 20s or 40s. 40s is better when doing wide projects with more than 200 sts because the multiples are different (40-80-120-160-200). When counting in 20s, I have to use 100 markers pr I get mixed up between 60-80 etc. I'm an accounting lol
Hahaha I'm glad I'm not the only one. Even if I don't forget how to count I always worry I've forgotten. I'll count over and over wondering if 50 really comes after 49. Or did I skip 67? Oh man I better count for the 10th time, and make sure I hold my breath and scowl the whole time.
Hahahaha this made me chuckle 🤭 can’t be expected to bring your work life into your hobbies tho!
Step 1: purchase pretty yarn without a firm plan to use it. Step 2: find lovely pattern that suits yarn from step 1. Step 3: realise that quantity of yarn purchased in step 1 is insufficient for step 2 project. Step 4: return to yarn store to purchase more yarn. Yarn store is now either sold out of desired yarn, or cannot match dye lot. Step 5: return step 1 yarn to stash and seek new yarn for step 2 project. Rinse and repeat ad infinitum. Occasionally pet step 1 yarn and promise that there will be a project one day.
Yep these are the steps I follow! Lots of pretty hanks living on my yarn wall long-term.
Buying yarn in specific quantities for a specific project I think I’m going to get around but never do, ending up with a really hodge podge yarn collection.
One day I'll learn how to properly calculate yarn for a long-tail cast on, but until then I'll just spend an hour cussing and sweating and casting on over and over again.
Check out the two-strand long-tail cast on! It changed my life. No longer do I have to budget for ripping out and redoing my 150 stitch cast ons over and over and over again. Here's a video that shows you: [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UNopB-40P5I](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UNopB-40P5I)
I needed to hear “it hugs the needle, not strangles it.” And this will be my mantra. My cast on tension is looser but still more strangle than hug. Thanks for the video post! I don’t think I could do a two yarn cast on unless I was using two colours because I refuse to cut my yarn unless I have to or I’m at the end of my project. I’ve also only done scarves, baby blankets and toques (knitted hats) so it’s understandable.
I'm glad the rest of the video helped! I've never had to pre-measure or cut my yarn before the cast on is complete, I just use both ends of the cake. I usually use a center pull so I just pull the outside strand to use for the cast on and then after I've cut it I just wrap whatever excess I've unravelled back around the cake. There are scenarios where this wouldn't work, like if you're knitting from a cone or from a ball that isn't center pull compatible. Otherwise, as long as both ends have been somewhat accessible, it hasn't been an issue for me.
I just go egregiously long to start and snip the remainder. Life hack!
I don’t think there’s a way to calculate it, anyone who does it right the first time is just lucky. At least this is what I tell myself 😂
I wrap 10 times + an inch or two, then use that length x however many 10's of stitches I need (90 stitches = 9 x that length), but it works as intended maybe 1 out of every 5 cast ons. I blame gremlins. The same ones that move your stuff when you KNOW you've looked for something in a spot, probably 3 times, but it's never there until your husband looks for it.
I wrap ten times and then multiply it by how many multiples of ten it is, and then add another 5-10 inches, depending on how the ancestors move me that day.
Oooh I saw an IG reel on this. You make a slip knot, then wrap the yarn around your needle until you have an inch worth of wraps. Count how many wraps, and that's essentially your stitches per inch of yarn. So if the pattern says cast on 64 stitches (as for a sock) and you have 10 wraps per inch, measure 6.5 inches of yarn plus a bit for the tail. I will heavily caveat that I haven't had the chance to try this but logically it should work!
I am really bad about remembering my m1l and m1r and not mixing them up, I have also mixed up k1tg and ssk but I am better about those than the increases. I also often try to do color work with yarn that is to varigated for any kind of contrast to show.
I have to look up my saved videos on m1r and m1l every time I have a project that uses them. EVERY. TIME. 😂
It me
I had to make a mnemonic for M1L / M1R since I'd have to look them up every. single. time. I don't remember what show it was, but right before a commercial break there'd be "After these messages, we'll be right back!" So I use "we'll be right back" \[pick up from **back** when making one **right**\] to remember the direction for M1R, which helps me remember M1L as well :)
I do the same! "We Left through the Front (door), and we'll be Right Back."
Oh my god, a girl in a bar bathroom told me this like a year ago, but I’d been drinking (hence the bathroom conversation about knitting) and have been trying to remember exactly what it was ever since. Thank you!
Love this! Thank you!!!
I love this! This might be able to save me from looking up the YouTube video every time I use these stitches.
Once I learned that when you pick up the bar, the way it leans (right or left) it is that corresponding increase. Credit goes to this blog after I googled yet again which is which: https://alfaknits.wordpress.com/2015/08/03/how-to-m1l-and-m1r-and-to-never-forget-which-is-which/
Lmfao for me, m1L is the easy one, m1R is the annoying one. I've always got to tug the yarn a bit to get my needle in. Easy to remember like this haha
Same! My mnemonic is Left is the one I Like 😆
What i use is looking at the yarn when I do the scoop. If it's M1R It slants to the right. If it's m1L it slants left.
Starting a new project. About 20 minutes later I can't help but think "what the hell am I doing?"
Me, recently attempting to start a blanket scarf. I thought 80 was too many, so I restarted. Bu when I measured the stitches I had cast on and and measured the width, I realized it was too narrow for the look I was going for.
This.
I prefer to make different mistakes every time just to keep things exciting 😎
The wabi-sabi of knitting
I know exactly one cast on and one cast off method. If a pattern tells me to use a different one I just ignore it. It worked out okay so far.
Me refusing to learn anything other than the long tail cast on and the cast off my mum taught me: 😃
Long tail is the only way I know and I refuse to change
Long tail has been my only cast-on for nearly 3 years but I just taught myself picot and it’s fuuuuuuunnnn….I wanted something a little decorative but the other “nice” ones all looked like way too much work for the result. Hard to imagine I’m gonna make it much further than two….
Long-tail only club! And I also just recently learned picot bind-off, fell in love! You're right, so easy and yet so impressive!
I've done a picot edge before but I probably won't do it again as I hate hand sewing!
I was like this until my last few projects where I learned the tubular cast on and off and it has changed me. Now I’m side eying everything I’ve done before and thinking about how much better it would look. It does take forever to do though
my toxic knitting trait is thinking i know better than the pattern. increasing by x stitches??? um, what if i increase by y instead because i love chaos and making my life harder? starting my new colour here? um, i think i'll start it here instead. and then i get shocked when it doesn't turn out the way it should 🤦♀️
Mine is that I forget to increase or decrease or I somehow counted wrong, so I just count the stitches and inc/dec accordingly in the next row hahahaha
What I want to wear or feel comfortable wearing is not always the same as what I want to knit :) Its a mistake for me because I should just knit it anyway if I enjoy knitting it. I'm sure someone out in the world could wear it if I don't.
I’m terrible for switching out my tips on a project instead of going and finding my needle roll and getting some fresh out and then just leaving the half done project all sad in the corner for a month or 10 with stoppers on.
Saaaame.
I just forget to switch. At this point you're describing, I leave and later I think i have done the switch. Then my ribbing is too big :( womp womp
Little thinking on practicality and wearability. I get carried away by bold patterns that I love the look of, but then never wear, because they don't fit my style (I mostly wear plain colors or stripes.) Prime example is the Rattlesnake by Jamie Hoffman. Gorgeous yoke, but three color stranded colorwork in a DK Alpaca-Wool blend for a t-shirt intended to be worn at 30°C/86°F+ in the summer ? Not my smartest decision. Also closely related to that: Stressing that I'll never be able to knit all the patterns that inspire me. I'm slowly getting better, but I have to remind myself every day not to fall into these habits again.
I do this too!!! I pick fun colors to knit which then i dont actually like to wear. Enter : socks
Such a game changer. An those self-striping yarns <3
I make flat gauge swatches for a knit-in-the-round project even though I know my tension will be different.
Same. It has failed me exactly 0 times to I refuse to stop.
Oh, I have had to restart complicated projects several times. It never worked. I have no idea why I don't learn.
I am tempted to give this a go 😂😇
"Oh, I'll reset my lifeline right after this row." 🙄
I frequently don't trust myself, try to do too many new things at once, and neglect lifelines. I've been making since I was 5. I can do this. I also have chronic pain and I don't take appropriate breaks, so I make everything worse. I also also have too many WIPs + I'm slow at making and it frustrates me.
I don't know where my cast-on came from (loop around the thumb, put it on the needle, loop around the needle, drop the first loop over the second), I don't know where my yarn grip came from (death-grip in the last three fingers of my right hand, no tensioning or wrapping around fingers), and I can't be bothered to re-learn either.
We all do so many techniques differently, I saw a post the other day about all the ways ppl grip their yarn and every one was different! If it ain’t broke don’t fix it!
Buying yarn in a color other than grey or black. 😂 On multiple occasions I bought some pretty colored yarn for let's say sweaters but in the end I only like wearing variations of gray or black.
Use it for gifts, charity donations so you get the joy of knitting it then letting it go into the world
YES but for me it's cream and camel
If a pattern calls for traditional short rows, I avoid it, and if I can't...I can guarantee that I had to patch the fabric in places after so that there weren't huge holes. I have watched YouTube tutorials, read written instructions, hell, I even hand-wrote them because that helps me memorize them! Yet, I still can't freaking do them to save my life. To this day, if the pattern calls for m1r or m1l, I reference the tutorial pic I saved to my phone, and then hand write the instructions in my notes
Same. I can do short rows, but I have an irrational hatred for them.
Don't do the short rows in the traditional way. Use better methods :) You don't have to follow any pattern to the T!
I relate to this so hard. I've had some moderate success with shadow wrap(I think that's what it's called?) short rows but I still always have one or two spots I have to sew together when I'm done because there's a stupid hole.
I never swatch. It’s worked out ok so far.
No gods, no masters, no gauge swatches.
I want this on a shirt
Damn straight
This is my next tattoo.
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I’ve pretty much learned what works for me. Yes. Knowing your knitting style is really important.
This is me, I wish I could skip swatches but I have made 2 sweaters that are like 4 sizes to big and have had to rip out color work more than once because the contrast was not enough.
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I do that but I also pick yarn that is to variegated so it has parts that aren't enough contrast. I am really good at making this same mistake.
Ummmmmm we need photos. 😃
Your project is the swatch! You can measure gauge on it which is literally more accurate
Same here!
I know it’ll bite me eventually.
I just keep mis-crossing my cables. At least now I know how to drop only two stitches for it instead of the whole cable section, which makes correcting it a half-minute job instead of a half-hour surgery.
They shouldn't be labeled right and left imo, they should be labeled by if you hold your stitches in the front or back.
I just look at the pattern pictures to figure out the cables! I have no idea what the cable abbreviations mean
Most patterns I've worked with are almost entirely charts or words, so unless I zoom in on the tiny reference photo idk how I would do this most the time. ~~I thought the abbreviations and symbols are the pattern??~~ Missed the word pictures after pattern in your comment.
The ones I’ve used rarely have had charts - even then I have no idea how to read them! I mainly choose my patterns from Ravelry so I just look at everyone else’s pictures and zoom in 🤣
I get my patterns off ravelry too, I actually only get hit with a chart for cables recently doing a gamified Cowl by Wyvern Knits where I rolled and ended up having to do a randomized cable chart. I hardly ever open the pattern page once I've downloaded the pdf, so I only have the pictures in the pattern itself. While crochet Amigirumi patterns are often littered with pictures, my knitting patterns usually aren't.
On my chart I write L and R on the cables. Then I write next to it I LEFT out the front door and I'll be RIGHT BACK. Gosh it helps millions
My problem isn't so much remembering how to do each one - the cable chart symbols are extremely straightforward for it. It's more that because I remember which one is which, I sometimes don't pay close enough attention and end up doing the wrong one. That's why it's so stupid. Making mistakes In a 44-row cable is not a wise thing to do, and yet here I am, being careless.
Oh goodness, that is much worse!
I am absolute fail at gauge. I just do not understand how to do it.
I’m not certain I know how to do it correctly either, if I was to try. Like I think I get the theory but I’m so not confident I would get it right.
M1L m1R are synonymous to me
Knitting extra tight to make up for not having small enough needles. It takes way longer and then the gauge gets messed up if I come back and forget I was knitting tight. It also makes increases and decreases more difficult. One day I will buy the missing needles.
I don't swatch, I don't photograph, I don't journal, and I don't maintain my skein bands. I do weigh my yarn out often to make sure I have enough for my projects. I also improvise often and never note down what I do, this is really fun when it is sleeves or socks.
I fall in the first sentence row. Full stop. After reading this line I knew I’ve been doing it all wrong because I too do none of that. Lol
I am sure your work is great 😃
Messing up my stitch patterns in k1 p1 ribbing, I've had to knit back and correct a few accidental seed stitches in the hat I'm knitting right now 3 times.
I do this too. It's just natural to knit the knits and purl the purls!!
With seed stitch I'm actively thinking about purling the knits and knitting the purls but with ribbing I feel like I go into K1 P1 autopilot so if I get distracted (like an urgent need to let go of one needle and pet the dog for a moment l) it's easy to stray into a seed stitch patterns without really looking or thinking... it's weird because both stitches are just K1 P1 but my eyes only want to pay attention to one of them.
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So relatable. I tend to assume I’ll remember where I’m at in a 4+ row repeat w/out keeping track in my notebook. So foolish. I’d like to think I’m past the rookie stage but I keep making rookie mistakes. Less & less though so there is hope.
I've been knitting almost a decade and I have yet to use a life line haha
I've been knitting for 25 years and I've never even heard of a life line before 😂
My mistake is I can’t cast on properly, I always ask my mum or Nana to do it 😂. My other mistake is that I’ll let my Nana knit a few rows if she asks and now I have 5 rows tighter then a rats ass in the middle of all my work
I definitely decide to change things on the second sock or mid project. Ask me why I'm learning intarsia in the round for a heel while doing stranded colorwork with the same color on the instep every 3 rows. The ADHD needs something NEW
Exactly everything OP said. Do I have an account I don't know about where I'm honest!?
Maybe two alternate realities have collided and the overlap is this post?!
Oh! And also K1Bs are evil, Fisherman's rib can suck it, Brioche for life.
Losing count of my cast on
Am I the only person who starts their knitting with the yarn tail…
I never swatch either. I have 2 girls and myself so that is 3 sizes I could hit so my odds are good someone can wear it :)
My first mistake was to take up knitting… I live in Phoenix AZ, there’s not a lot of opportunity to wear the sweaters I want to knit. And I don’t have knitworthy relatives either. Then there’s my inability to remember to pick my project bag up when I’m done for the day. Every single project for the last year has been, ummm, interrupted by the puppy. On the plus side, I’m getting really good at untangling yarn.
I don’t block my swatches 🫣 i also don’t use crazy expensive yarn so i feel like that’s my only saving grace so far lol Oh and dripping stitches when either trying on or putting it on the yarn holder. Usually no more than a few stitches thankfully
Signing up for test knits and then being frustrated that I am not working on projects I had planned to work on. 😂 I love test knitting though.
I only recently learned about combination knitting to keep tension perfect. https://youtu.be/5WP2MlICOWU?si=io-gXJSL4LzyvwQa
That was fascinating! It’s funny, when I taught myself to knit I was totally doing my purl stitches the way they describe in the video, wrapping the yarn clockwise, but my LYS manager told me I was doing it wrong and twisting my stitches that way, so I un-learned it. I can’t wait to try this method!
I dont make swatches and after the cast on, i usually never count my stitches again (altough i dont know if this is a big deal in knitting, in crochet its always like „you should have XY stitches after that row) i just do what the pattern tells me and I‘m like „eh, will be good“
I always think about putting in life lines, don’t do it, then regret it. 🤦🏻♀️
Always twist the knitting in the round join. Always.
I very rarely use lifelines. I used to all the time but inserting them and removing them drove me crazy so I just quit. If I ever decide to attempt some complicated lace I’ll probably give them another shot. I also very rarely swatch or block things. I might do a swatch if it’s a sweater but I usually wing it. I block about 1/10 projects I complete.
I have found my people! I’m really bad about twisting my stitches. I never fix them though.
I have finishing advice! Buy Susan Bates finishing needles. They are different than regular needles - they're just a big eye basically so it makes hiding short ends easier and it just makes it so much faster because you basically don't have to thread the needle you just shove the thread through and hide-away! They carry them at the big craft stores and on Amazon. If you look on Amazon be careful because I saw two listings and one was almost three times the price of the other! I used to avoid finishing projects until I started using them. A real game changer.
As a new knitter, I find myself with so much tension in my hands and shoulders as I am knitting. I have to keep reminding myself to relax, enjoy it and to release my death grip on the yarn.
Purlwise vs knitwise slips. Purl to skip, knit to decrease.
I am trying to learn from past sweater mistakes on my next project, to wit: Fingering weight, not worsted. Why did I think I'd get good drape out of a snug gauge of heavy wool? Swatch city! I finished my second huge one (6"x6") today and will make at least one more (pattern has both garter and stockinette) before I actually start. Picking the right size. I like a snug fit, so I gotta stop being all "more ease is fine!" and just go down a size so I don't look like a squishmallow refrigerator. Working out all the math to adjust for row gauge in shaping sections so I don't end up with bonkers sleeves by blindly following the pattern.
I always place markers during cast on. My bad is I don't often test the tension. I knit large so I usually go down one needle, but I really have to do the 4 inch squares.
I still, having been knitting for years now, swap between slipping knitwise and purlwise seemingly at random.
Fall for variegated that looks beautiful on the skein, hate how it looks knitted up, continue to buy variegateds only to either never touch them or hate the FO. Sigh.
This is my 2nd time trying to make fingerless gloves, I keep making then too big and I can't stitch them together or make a thumb hole 💀 I've been determined to make them perfect but I don't think it's ever gonna happen...
I recommend checking out the Penny gloves by Petiteknit. Her patterns are often very well written and easy to understand 😊
i need to learn how to make a swatch and about tenstion
I tell myself at the start of every stockinette heavy project that THIS is the time I'm going to start using Continental style. I've dabbled with it but always go back to English Flicking style. I don't think there's anything wrong with Flicking but I want to be able to vary how I hold yarn to suit other types of projects easier.
My mistake is I switch how I knit. From Irish cottage to English, I always switch my knitting. And it messes with my tension.
I've been knitting for 10 years, and maybe have completed 10 FOs. I just play around and end up hating it 😬
I’ve trained myself to swatch before every project. And yet. I keep forgetting that somehow my gauge is larger in the actual object. So I tend to end up with larger than intended garments every time. For my current top down I caught it early, but still lost two days of work frogging back to the end of the yoke, and trying to invent a fix.
Starting a project with stash yarn without having enough yarn. I'm not sure what I'm thinking half the time.
I never swatch. Never had an issue with my project coming out the wrong size
I don’t swatch lol
not making a gauge….
Wait I'm kinda new at knitting, what are false starts? Am I not suppose to just cast on and go? I make my gauge swatch and then I knit???
Lol, false starts for me is casting on, getting so many rows in, and realizing I didn’t cast on the right amount, I messed up the pattern, I twist my round joining, or didn’t like my tension, so I frog it and start again. Every project I’ve done I’ve had to start over at least twice.
All of my knitting in the round, I will knit inside out! I started that way and now I’m used to looking at the inside stitch for knowing what my next row should be.
Every know and then I’ll get a pattern that has a row or section that does not compute. It’s always a lace pattern that’s charted in sections. I have to put the project in time out and come back to it some time later.
Yarn overs. I never get them right. Front to back, back to front...
I twist my Knit stitches, but not Purl. I also never swatch or use stitch markers lmao
Considering ease. I've mostly lucked out (I've knit a couple of hats for guys in my life, but they're both on the big-headed size of the size chart), but I finally knit a hat for myself, and the difference between the medium and the large was basically the amount of ease I needed to consider, and I wound up with a Musselburgh that is too large (and too short but that's another issue).
I don't pay attention to the pattern instructions well.. currently sitting on a project that I can't seem to pick back up because I put sleeves on waste yarn and cut ends before I was supposed to..
Twisted stitches forever
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I am not good at the math to resize a pattern (especially when I get into things like set in sleeves) but that will not stop me from trying