Mistakes - Why Ripping Back is Worth It
These socks never did fit me right. I should have just ripped them
out and made something else. But I wanted to stick with them, so I ended
up with really loose ill fitting socks. As a result, they wore out
quickly and have been repaired several times. They are still in my
stack of socks, but I never wear them.
Mistakes are one way we learn. Recently, I had to rip out half of one of my green socks because I made a mistake following my own pattern. I hadn't deleted the way I tried doing the first sock's calf section, and didnt read any farther than what came next. They are more pattern notes than pattern. Needless to say, that part has been deleted. Now I am one step closer to having a pattern for plain socks that actually fit me.
Over the past few years I have ripped out a lot of knitting so I could get the fit right. When I knit my Ravello sweater, I ripped that thing back to the second row when I was nearly done with the body because my gauge ended up being slightly off. The sweater was coming out a bit large, but worst of all, I was running out of yarn. And I still had the sleeves to knit. This sweater has become my favorite one to throw on when I feel a bit chilly:
I really think ripping something out to get it right is worth it. No one wants to spend their time re-knitting things, but having spent all your hours of knitting for something you can't wear would be even worse.
Many years ago, I was looking through a new issue of Interweave Knits thinking things like "I can't make that because I don't know how to do this skill". I realized I was never going to knit much of anything if I went through my knitting life thinking like that. These days, learning a new skill might be the reason I choose a pattern. A few months ago, I picked a cowl pattern to make for one of my daughters just because it is something I have never done before. It is the Two-Color Cotton Cowl
by Purl Soho. Naturally, I am going to make it in wool because I really don't like working with cotton. Not to mention, we have real actual cold weather in this part of the world. A cotton cowl would not keep my girl warm when it is -10 F.
Mistakes are one way we learn. Recently, I had to rip out half of one of my green socks because I made a mistake following my own pattern. I hadn't deleted the way I tried doing the first sock's calf section, and didnt read any farther than what came next. They are more pattern notes than pattern. Needless to say, that part has been deleted. Now I am one step closer to having a pattern for plain socks that actually fit me.
Over the past few years I have ripped out a lot of knitting so I could get the fit right. When I knit my Ravello sweater, I ripped that thing back to the second row when I was nearly done with the body because my gauge ended up being slightly off. The sweater was coming out a bit large, but worst of all, I was running out of yarn. And I still had the sleeves to knit. This sweater has become my favorite one to throw on when I feel a bit chilly:
I really think ripping something out to get it right is worth it. No one wants to spend their time re-knitting things, but having spent all your hours of knitting for something you can't wear would be even worse.
Many years ago, I was looking through a new issue of Interweave Knits thinking things like "I can't make that because I don't know how to do this skill". I realized I was never going to knit much of anything if I went through my knitting life thinking like that. These days, learning a new skill might be the reason I choose a pattern. A few months ago, I picked a cowl pattern to make for one of my daughters just because it is something I have never done before. It is the Two-Color Cotton Cowl
by Purl Soho. Naturally, I am going to make it in wool because I really don't like working with cotton. Not to mention, we have real actual cold weather in this part of the world. A cotton cowl would not keep my girl warm when it is -10 F.
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