March 28, 2010
Some days it's just wrong
People often tell me I'm a good knitter. And I guess, when you look at the finished project, it's true. But some days, I can't follow a pattern to save my life, and I wonder how I've ever managed to knit as much as I have.
Yesterday was the last Saturday of the month, which makes it Stitch n Bitch day. The weather was gorgeous, and I've had a really, really crappy month, and had been looking forward to it for days. Off I went, having had lunch with two of my favourite people first. That bit was great. (I highly recommend the Smoked Chicken Salad at Diggies)
We went over to SnB after that, and sat with a bunch of wonderful creative people, and that bit was great, too. The knitting part? Not so great.
I've finished the back of the lacy cardi I mentioned a couple of posts back, and I'd started the fronts. Here's how it looked after SnB.
When I left yesterday morning, both fronts were an equal length, about halfway through the ribbing. In the middle of SnB, I finished the ribbing and went to change to the larger needles for the body. At that point, I realised that I'd brought the 3.5mm Knitpro tips that I needed, but I'd done the ribbing on 3mm fixed circulars. Fortunately, Kylie had brought along her whole Knitpro kit, and loaned me a cable.
Whilst in the middle of the first row of patterning, I realised that I'd omitted a rather important step in a cardigan. No buttonholes.
Some cursing followed, but I bit the bullet and ripped out the front that should have had the buttonholes. I proceeded to ignore that front, and work on the patterning on the first front. Then I came to the sickening realisation that I'd ripped out the wrong front.
I went home, with my knitting at the point in the picture above.
I decided that it didn't matter, the buttons could go on the wrong stinking side. Whilst reknitting the ribbing on the first front, complete with buttonholes, I had a most brilliant thought! If I did one row less of ribbing on the fronts, I could turn the pieces around and have the wrong side as the right side, and that would put the buttonholes on the correct side of the cardigan, it would just mean that I'd have to rip out the patterning on the first front, and one row of ribbing so I could turn it around, (so the fronts would have one less row of ribbing than the back) but then it would all be good again.
So I ripped out the 18 rows of lace I'd done on the first front, which you can see in the picture above.
I finished the ribbing (minus one row of ribbing) on the second front, then reread the pattern to make sure it was all good and I'd finally sorted it all out.
And it turned out that I hadn't been wrong the very first time, the buttonholes had been on the right side the whole time.
So if you're a beginner knitter, take heart. If you're looking at those of us who have been knitting for years and thinking about what wonderful knitters we are, consider that the best of us can easily make the most stupid mistakes. (Repeatedly!)
Posted by Donna at March 28, 2010 05:16 PMComments
is it wrong that i laughed? Just a little. It was more of a 'oh man I have so been there' laugh than a 'ha ha you're a crap knitter' laugh! Cos you're not crap. you just had a some issues yesterday!
Posted by: bells at March 28, 2010 06:46 PMOh Noes!! (and oh dear, I laughed a little too, that's exactly the sort of thing I'd do too!). Maybe it's just you and knitting lace in company?? I take the easy way out and stick to stocking stitch socks when I'm in company!! (not that that necessarily means I don't make mistakes...)
Posted by: Rose Red at March 28, 2010 06:48 PMThis is exactly why I can't knit in company. I stuff up every single time!
Posted by: Melissa at March 28, 2010 07:53 PMOh noes, oh dear, and thank heavens I'm not the only one!
Ouch.
Posted by: Shelley at March 28, 2010 08:48 PMBeen there, done that...repeatedly.
Posted by: Marika at March 28, 2010 08:58 PMOh, I hate it when that happens! I'm fond of garter stitch when knitting with the girls, even then I've been know to make a stupid mistake and have to frog everything when I get home. The life of a knitter isn't an easy one ;o)
Posted by: Sherpa at March 29, 2010 01:46 AMyour description here sure made me laugh, although the reality of watching it happen was less amusing... but its not you you know, its the pattern corrupting fairy. she usually lives at my house but maybe she was bored and came for a ride in the knitpicks case?
Posted by: drk at March 29, 2010 07:09 AMGlad you got it all figured out. I have done that before, I tend to not read ahead when I think it is an easy pattern only to get bitten a few inches in and have to rip it all out.
The scary thing for me lately has been my sister calling me for knitting advice. She has done a few fair isles in the past with no fear of steeking and now she calls me with simple questions as she hasn't knitted in quite a few years.
Posted by: Suzanne at March 29, 2010 09:32 AMI feel your pain! I got into a panic with a cardigan on Saturday night - fine alpaca, tiny needles, whole body knitted together - and decided that it was going to be HUGE on me. I put it onto two needles to measure it better, and most of it fell off the smaller needle as I carried it across the room. I picked up all the stitches onto a thread, creating lots of dropped stitches in the process, measured it properly, and it's PERFECTLY FINE. I spent two hours on Sunday morning putting all the stitches back on th needle properly. and now there's some messy-looking bits where I picked up the dropped stitches. I tell myself that blocking will even them out.
Posted by: M-H at March 29, 2010 09:38 AMOh no! My deepest sympathy. We've all been there and you are still a good knitter.
Posted by: Lynne at March 29, 2010 10:05 AMThis sounds too familiar. You are not a bad knitter, you are a great knitter & it's just one of those days!
Posted by: Ann at March 29, 2010 12:51 PMMe TOO!!!!!!
Posted by: Chery at March 29, 2010 01:27 PMOh no that's horrible (((Big Hugs)))
Posted by: Kylie at March 29, 2010 07:59 PMOh dear, so sorry about the mistakes. Hmmmm, maybe the mistakes are related to the crappy month you've had. At least sometimes it works that way with my knitting/life.
Posted by: Sue at March 30, 2010 06:31 AMI blame snb, and knitting in public generally for this kind of stuffup. I did exactly the same thing on Saturday btw - I picked up the stitches and knit for hours on the brown cardigan, thinking I had started the body part.
Turns out when I got home I had picked up the neckline by mistake.
Rip. Rip.
Then yesterday I realised on my travels I'd knit fifteen 300 stitch rows of the body with the markers in the wrong place, thus the shaping was not where it was supposed to be, snafu.
Rip. Rip.
I hate days like that. So frustrating. But, I like to think that there was some other hidden disaster that I hadn't noticed that would have made the whole thing awful when I discovered it after, say FINISHING both fronts and seamed things..
My husband still doesn't get that frogging doesn't make me insane.
Oh no, that kind of things happens to me too. I over think things. I hope the next time's the charm.
Posted by: 2paw at March 28, 2010 06:27 PM