I saw something online the other day...
...and yeah. This is me.
I worked on the blue afghan this past week. It's a fairly simple stitch pattern. All knits and purls. I created a chart.
It's just three repeats of the pattern. With border stitches. Easy.
Except... I lose count.
If my mind drifts. If something on the TV catches my interest. If someone asks me a question. If my phone alerts.
Wait. Was that the two knit stitches after the four purl, or was that after two purl stitches, which meant I should have knit four?
And then I found myself tracking back to the beginning of the row, counting which stitch is which. And realizing that the last ten stitches I did were off and I have to rip out and fix.
After about the third such mistake, I realized what I should have done. (I didn't do this because three pattern repeats. I didn't need it with three pattern repeats, surely?)
Stitch markers.
These are little plastic or metal rings. You put them on the needle in between the stitches. It's a signal that something needs to happen here. Like, this starts pattern repeat number two. Or, this is the end of the border stitches.
So, on the very next row, I pulled out my stitch markers, and I placed them at the end of each pattern repeat. I only needed four.
And it made things go so much more smoothly.
I still have to count. And that can be dodgy. But when I lose my place, I only have to track back to the marker and not back to the beginning of the row.
The afghan thus far:
It's coming along.
My issue is just not paying attention...lol
ReplyDeleteThis is what stitch markers are for. You were just knitting along? Here's a reminder to do something here.
DeleteThat happened to me on my first and last crocheting project. I had to unravel is more than a few times and I still don't think I did it correctly.
ReplyDeleteAnd the color of the yarn and your lightning can affect how easily it is to count the stitches.
ReplyDeleteYes. True.
DeleteI know that feeling. The cross stitch pattern I'm working on right now is so complicated I keep losing my place in it. I only looked up for a few seconds!
ReplyDeleteI love that counting really loudly when people talk to you! I guess they don't get the hint "Not now, I'm counting!"
ReplyDeleteCan confirm. My family knows that if they ask me a question and I start counting out loud to wait. I'm not listening.
DeleteSo that's how knitting stitch markers work. I finally (I only crochet) bought some crochet stitch markers. I used to use twist ties if I needed some (for example, anything worked in the round like a hat.) Now, I have these cool markers and I'm working on my large temperature afghan that doesn't require them. Oh well!
ReplyDeleteIf you have the split ones, you can also clip them onto a stitch. That works better for crochet.
DeleteSounds like a solution
ReplyDeleteI can't be trusted to retain where I am in the pattern, so I must use supports.
DeleteMy mind also wonders.
ReplyDeleteHi Liz - I don't knit ... but can understand brief loss of memory while trying to remember something - I never seem to be able to count each January - how long have I been blogging ... you've been going over a year and half longer than me - how long is that? I give up! Cheers Hilary
ReplyDeleteI would lose track so often!
ReplyDeleteThat's why we have tricks like this.
DeleteOooh, I love the color and design.
ReplyDelete