Humans make mistakes. Inevitably. At school. At work. At home.
Given that sweaters, afgans and even socks have hundreds and thousands of loops, knots, yarnovers and irregular combinations of same, knitters make mistakes.
I learned something valuable about fixing mistakes from knitting. .
Mistakes appear at different times. Sometimes you know right away. Sometimes you don't notice for a long time. Mistakes happen at the beginning, middle or end of a process. Sometimes they hide until the project is (supposedly) finished.
When you find a mistake, my first bit of advice is to admit it. Especially to yourself. Even if it turns your stomach, turns your blood to ice or gives you a headache. Do NOT castigate yourself or whip up a frenzy of shame and humiliation. Calm yourself and tell Panic to go away.
First, figure out what went wrong.
- dropped stitch?
- twisted stitch?
- purled instead of knitted or vice versa?
- wrong increase or decrease?
- erroneous knitting of a yarn over?
- read from the wrong part of the pattern?
Figure out what it will take to fix the mistake as soon as possible. With most projects you'll notice before the object is finished and off the needles.
Sometimes, with a steady hand and a crochet hook, one can drop a single line of stitches, fix the wayward one and pick the stitches back up.
Other times, when the pattern is very complex, you just need to rip back. It might feel like starting over.
Rarely, the best solution is "cosmetic surgery." The Yarn Harlot figured a way to stitch over a cable that went in the wrong direction... which meant she did not have to reknit the whole front of the sweater AND the error was nearly invisible.
Take the time to figure out what went wrong.
I make more mistakes when I
- am tired
- am in a hurry
- do not adequately prepare
- try short cuts
- forget the real purpose and value in what I am doing
The problem with not fixing mistakes is that you always know where they are, AND that your integrity, pride, craftsmanship or whatever was insufficient to make the end result the best you were able to produce.
It is humbling to admit error. It can be embarrasing to do what it takes to fix it.
It is better than wondering
- "Who's going to notice?"
- "What will they think?"
- "What will happen next?
the sooner you rip back, the sooner you get back on track
1 comment:
Oh, I sorta disagree. Sometimes, leaving the mistake makes you learn to 'let go' and realize that it's just knitting... I've found that knitting is what helps me determine, knitting or otherwise, when good is enough. Because sometimes, it is. ;)
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