Big Box of Knitting FAILS – What Was I Thinking??

For those of you that have taken classes with me, you know all about “Patty’s Big Box of Knitting Fails”. I seem to have an example of something tragic I’ve done in my knitting for nearly everything I’m teaching. So, this blog series was born to dig into my knitting boo boos. Today’s episode . . .

Just because you can knit it . . . doesn’t mean you should knit it.

One of the things I teach in my sweater classes is to think about what you want to knit. We go through ways to really understand a sweater pattern. We look at how to figure out if it’s right for you, how to pick the right yarn, and the right size. We also learn to compare a schematic to the pattern picture in case there might be a disconnect (like a bit clip at the back of the model make the sweater looked shaped!)

Finally, we discuss looking to Ravelry for other knitter’s experiences. On Ravelry you can see what other knitters think and look at their project pictures.

Oh how I wish I knew then what I know now .

For instance had I looked at another knitters project I might have seen this comment:

“OK – this one looks nothing like the picture from Moda Dea. There is no shaping involved”

So, I knit the whole sweater back only to find that it was a very large (fuzzy) box. So, I ripped the whole thing out (SOOOO fun to do with fuzzy novelty yarn), and went on to rewrite the pattern to eliminate an entire diamond repeat and add waist shaping.

There was only one problem . . . that now left the two diamonds in a rather (gulp) unfortunate position.

So to sum up the things I wish I had known:

1. How to read the schematic and look for pattern clues

Found in my digital class – Unlocking Pattern Secrets

2. How to customize a sweater pattern

Found in my digital class – Customizing Sweater Patterns Pt. 1 & Pt 2

3. How to make a sweater you will love

Found in any of my video sweater classes  – video sweater classes.

Do you have a knitting fail? Share it in a comment.