Oh by the way, once I washed my swatch my gauge went bigger, boo! So now there are more calculations in my future involving *gasp* changing the pattern!
And here is my progress:
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| The holes are meant to be there ;) |
Knitting... such a relaxing pastime. Until of course you make a mistake! As a beginner, knitting can transform from "ahh, how nice" to "AGHH... my stitches!!" in about 2 milliseconds. Well, maybe that's just me! But I'm sure I'm not the only one who's found that moment terrifying!
I've already re-started my knitting once, actually. A few rows in on my first go, I messed up a lacy row and got severely freaked out trying to figure out how to undo my work, with all the crazy holes and increases and decreases. I eventually gave up and started again.
But now I have to arm myself with resources on how to
a) avoid mistakes! (prevention is better than cure!)
b) fix those dastardly mistakes if I do make them!
Gail has put up a post on her advice. Definitely some good stuff in there!
And here are some thoughts I've had so far:
For preventing mistakes:
-Write out the instructions vertically like Gail suggests in her post.
-If you want to be really careful, don't just count the stitches at the end of each row. Count every time you get to a marker! This is where Gail's spreadsheet is invaluable!
-Don't knit sleepy, it'll only end in tears, lol!
For fixing mistakes:
-'Tink'ing- It's 'knit' backwards! That's what it's called when you individually undo each stitch. This is super helpful, and there are plenty of great videos on youtube. Every knitter has to know this one!
-Lifelines- I found this technique on knittinghelp.com, a fantastic website. You run a strand of yarn through your knitting and you can rip your knitting safely back to it if you need to. It's like a little security blanket! I started using it on my second go, and it has already helped me :) It also gave me an insight into how the stitches work. I plan to put one in every second purl row- overkill maybe but it makes me feel safe :) You can actually see it in my above photo. I used embroidery thread, not yarn.
-Watch some videos on fixing mistakes to get you more comfortable and start to understand how the stitches work a bit better. Here's one I liked.
-And above all- don't panic! I did, I honestly almost cried cos I was scared I'd ruined it! But I left it till morning and it didn't seem so scary. Give yourself some time to collect yourself :)
Well, that's what I've come to so far! I'm sure I'll have plenty more 'panic' moments, but hopefully I'll be better armed next time!
Hey everyone, what are your tips on knitting mistakes? Any favourite videos or revelations you had?
And, as always, if you want to join our knit-along, check out this post :)