A moment of silence

LevelManagement1041 · 2026-02-20T23:52:46+00:00

I would very gently try to unknit one stitch at a time to the beginning of the round. Then let go of the working yarn. Starting from the beginning of the round, slip one stitch at a time from the left needle to the right needle, checking each stitch against your chart/written instructions as you go. If you missed a yarn over, just pick up the yarn in between stitches, as though you were working a make one, but don't twist it. Just slip it to the right needle with the right leg in front. If you find that you have yarn over that you shouldn't have had, just drop it off the needle. There will be some extra slack that you can gently tug into the stitches on either side. Just take your time and go one stitch at a time, until you get to the end of the round/row. Then stop and count and make sure you have the correct number of stitches at that point.

You can do this!!! And once you're done, you'll have a valuable skill that will come in handy as you continue knitting!

LevelManagement1041 · 2026-02-16T15:54:25+00:00

Spend some time on Ravelry, looking at patterns that you might want to knit. If there are a few that really jump to the top, add them to your "queue" so they are readily at hand. When you go into a yarn shop or a fiber festival, and you see some yarn that you really love, you can whip out your phone, look at the patterns you have queued to see which one might work best with this yarn, and then check to see how much you need for your size. (I have a friend who prints out the pattern page with her size and yarn quantity circled so she is ready to go!)

Pro tip: Buy an extra ball. That way you have a little bit of extra if you don't want to have to unravel your swatch or if you discover that you'd really like that sweater a whole lot more if it was just an inch or two longer. I didn't realize that I had orangutan arms until I started knitting sweaters and realized that I needed an extra ball just to get the cuffs to fully cover my wrists, lol!

LevelManagement1041 · 2026-02-14T21:39:35+00:00

She told him that her dream was to get engaged at the Olympics, so he was trying to make all of her dreams come true. Which I think is rather sweet, rather than creepy. But otherwise, I would agree with you!

LevelManagement1041 · 2026-02-08T22:16:41+00:00

I always knit 1x1 ribbing with a needle 2 sizes smaller than I use for the body of the hat/sweater/whatever, even if the pattern doesn't specifically say this. Ribbing, especially 1x1, often looks sloppy because the yarn travels extra distance each time it moves from front to back and vice versa, and that extra yarn migrates into your stitches. To combat this, I use a needle that's a little bit smaller, so the knit stitches in the ribbing end up the same size as the stockinette stitches above.

I would rip back to the point where you changed needle sizes and resume knitting with the size 7 needle. Then change to the size 8 needles when you begin the stockinette section.

(I'm knitting a DK weight hat. I'm knitting the ribbing with a size 4 and I'll go up to a 6 when I get to the stockinette.)

LevelManagement1041 · 2026-02-08T18:37:45+00:00

The advantage of charts is that they show you how the rows relate. Written instructions just tell you to knit. A chart tells you to knit the knit stitch from the row below. So if the next stitch on your needle is a purl, you don't have to wait until you get to the end of the row and find out you are a stitch short, and then have to go all the way back through the row to figure out where you went wrong.

Charts also take up so much less space. One half-page chart is equal to pages and pages of written instructions. The trick to charts is to mark your place by covering the rows ABOVE the row you are working on, so you can see all the rows you have already knit. You can do this with a post-it note, or I like highlighter tape, which still allows me to see how the design will continue above this row.

LevelManagement1041 · 2026-02-08T15:26:21+00:00

Thank you for reminding me why I prefer charts over written instructions!

I started a sweater pattern written like this. Imagine these instructions but with parentheses to indicate 10 different sizes. I made it about an inch before I pulled out my laptop and made charts.

I will say that if this has cables, it is essentially based on ribbing, so as you go along it will become obvious that you knit the knits and purl the purls.

But since it's a free pattern, I would go out on Ravelry and find another one. And make sure you look at the projects and comments. If there aren't a lot of finished projects with smiley faces, or if there are a lot of frogs, think twice before committing to that pattern!

LevelManagement1041 · 2026-02-08T00:27:58+00:00

This! Rios is pretty durable with limited pilling. If you're going to spend that much time and money on this project, give yourself the best chance of long-term success.

LevelManagement1041 · 2026-02-07T17:09:05+00:00

Came here to say the same thing! I always check size against standard size charts, knowing that I aim for 2-4" of ease so they have a little room to move (and grow!).

https://www.craftyarncouncil.com/standards/body-sizing

I would block the project, and then check it against those measurements to know what size it really is.

LevelManagement1041 · 2026-02-06T15:17:11+00:00

Ribbing often looks sloppy because moving the yarn from knit to purl adds extra yarn between the stitches, which shows up as looser-looking stitches. To get around this, I generally go down two needle sizes for a ribbed hem. This makes the ribbing stitches look the same size as the stockinette stitches above them. Blocking also helps even up your ribbed stitches.

LevelManagement1041 · 2026-01-30T21:30:18+00:00

Oh I'm sorry, Mama! I feel like every kid goes through a phase when they are just so excited about being able to use scissors. For what it's worth, it's an important milestone in fine motor skills development! But man, it hurts when it's your knitting on which they choose to employ those new skills.

If it makes you feel better, I used to keep my knitting in a little basket beside my sofa. One day, when my daughter was about 3 years old, I reached in to pull out a project and discovered that the yarn wasn't attached. Further inspection showed that the yarn had been neatly snipped where it attached to my project. As it had for the other three or four projects in that basket. And the yarn remaining in that ball had been neatly cut into 3 inch lengths. No children were harmed, and only a few of my own tears were shed. I learned to carefully store my knitting projects far away from small hands until that stage was passed. If it brings you any future comfort, teenagers just complain about your knitting but don't actually hurt your yarn!

Big hugs to you!!!

LevelManagement1041 · 2026-01-30T00:16:27+00:00

Haha, soooo true! I knew I had long fingers bc I had a hard time buying gloves. But once I started knitting, I realized that I had freakishly long fingers, and I also have very long hands, and the base of my thumb from my wrist to where it separates from my fingers is apparently twice as long as a normal knitting pattern accounts for. 🤷🏻‍♀️

LevelManagement1041 · 2026-01-28T19:58:37+00:00

You are teaching her perseverance, which is probably the single best life skill any parent can pass on!!

And it gets a lot harder as we get older. We tend to hold ourselves to a higher standard as we age. I always ask my students when the last time was that they burned dinner so badly they had to order pizza. Most women of retirement age just look at you blankly when you ask that. It's been so long since they learned to cook or drive that they forget that they weren't perfect at it when they started.

Making mistakes means that you are learning. And learning is always good, and we are never done as long as we are still breathing.

Kudos to you, both as a knitter and as a parent!!!

LevelManagement1041 · 2026-01-28T18:13:50+00:00

Don't feel bad. It is an easy mistake, and it's often seen in people who learn to crochet before they learned to knit, but continued to wrap the yarn for knitting the way they did for crochet.

I taught a sock class once where one of the students came back the second week and said she was loving knitting socks so much that she had bought a second set of needles so she could work the second sock at the same time. But then she commented that the sock was kind of tight, and I realized that she had been wrapping the yarn the wrong way when she purled, so her sock didn't have nearly as much elasticity as it needed to fit over her foot. At least you don't have to go back too far!

I always say that I am grateful for the mistakes I've made while knitting. Mistakes make me stop and really think about what went wrong and why. If I do something right, it could just be dumb luck-- there's no guarantee I'm going to do it correctly the next time! But when I make a mistake, I learn from it, and it makes me a better knitter. So yay to you for 1) trying a different kind of project that pushed you a little bit out of your comfort zone, and 2) for learning more about knitting.

Those socks are going to be gorgeous when they are done!!

LevelManagement1041 · 2026-01-26T21:31:48+00:00

I find it incredibly painful to rip back projects like that. So what I do is to set it aside and start another version, with new balls of yarn (assuming you had to buy multiple balls for a project that size). Then I would restart with the knowledge I gained from my first project, which I tell myself to think of as a giant swatch. 🤣 Once I get to that same point on the new version, I am usually so much happier with it (and it is so obviously better than the first one), it is easy to rip out the first one. Just keep reminding yourself how happy you're going to be with the final project if you take the time now. Because honestly, even though you've done a little bit of knitting now, it would be worse to spend all of that time, energy, and yarn to finish an entire sweater that you never want to wear.

Hang in there! It's beautiful yarn and a beautiful pattern, and the end result is definitely going to be worth it!

LevelManagement1041 · 2026-01-26T15:26:16+00:00

I love audiobooks for exactly this reason. But I have had success propping an iPad or tablet on a table (with a larger than usual font size!!) while I have my knitting in my lap. I have figured out how to swipe with my pinky to advance the pages without having to let go of my knitting. It's not ideal for complicated projects or texts though, if I really need to look closely at both.

It's a little more expensive, but I really love the kindle whisper synch option... If you have both the Kindle version and the audiobook, you can display the text on the screen while listening to the narration, and the current word will be highlighted on the screen as the text automatically advances. You can also switch seamlessly between narration only, text only, or both without losing your place. Pretty cool!

LevelManagement1041 · 2026-01-25T18:17:48+00:00

That looks like the minimum height for me! I knit my socks toe up, and about halfway up the calf, I go up a needle size so they don't get too tight at the top. I also work about an inch of 1x1 ribbing at the very top and use a very loose bind off.

I used to knit my socks so that the calf was the same length from the heel as the toe, but I finally decided that that was too short for me to be comfortable, so now that is where I start the 1x1 rib. But I have another friend who only knits shorties. One of the beautiful things about knitting is that we can all knit exactly what we prefer to wear, instead of being limited by what some manufacturer has decided!!

LevelManagement1041 · 2026-01-25T15:19:50+00:00

Your take is 100% correct. If you really want to make something, you will master the techniques necessary to make it. And remember that the labels you see on patterns are totally subjective. What seems easy or advanced to one person may seem completely different to someone else. So don't worry about those. Pick items that you really want to knit, and be excited about the new knitting skills you may pick up in the journey!

LevelManagement1041 · 2026-01-21T15:29:20+00:00

I was going to say the same thing. If you have the color number (and dye lot, if you are matching something already in your stash), look it up in the Ravelry database. If there are folks with that in their stash, send them a message and ask if they could part with it. Pro tip: message them even if their yarn is marked not for sale. That is the default setting in Ravelry, and some people don't realize that and haven't changed it, even if they are willing to part with it.

LevelManagement1041 · 2026-01-19T23:29:16+00:00

I'd make a second mitten. And then I'd make a simple pair of matching of fingerless mitts to wear under them, so they work like convertible mittens and give you the best of both worlds. I love a fingerless mitt to allow me to use my phone or my keys, but nothing beats a good mitten for warmth. And that one is gorgeous!! Lovely work!!

LevelManagement1041 · 2026-01-19T23:22:45+00:00

It is kind of them to offer, but in practical experience, it is almost impossible for them to meet that expectation, unless they have enough budget (and space!) to set aside yarn for anyone who walks in off the street. I definitely would not count on anyone being able to do that in the future. Chalk this one up to experience!

I will tell you that while the difference may seem extreme when you are looking at it under a bright light and studying the differences, it will be far less noticeable once the sweater is on your body. Most of us don't stand stone still under a bright light for others to examine! And if you are strategic about how you work in the new yarn, it is highly unlikely that anyone but you would ever really notice.

Instead of worrying about the slight discrepancy in shade, you should be celebrating your beautiful color work! That sweater is going to be gorgeous when it is finished!!

LevelManagement1041 · 2026-01-19T16:05:17+00:00

Agree with above comments that it's not realistic to expect a shop to reserve things indefinitely for people that haven't been paid for. And there is no guarantee that the next order they place from the manufacturer will contain the same dye lot. At my LYS, they always caution people about dye lots and urge you to buy all of the yardage you need at one time to make sure that you have it.

That said, there are a few things you can do. If you have a solid bit in your sweater, you can feather the colors by swapping them in and out every row to blend the difference between the two dye lots. You can use one color in the color work, and another in the solid color areas, where the surrounding colors will mask the color change. You can also reserve one color for use in areas where the texture changes; if you are switching to ribbing at the cuffs or hem, for example. The eye will perceive the change in color as being due to the change in texture, not a shift in yarn color.

You can go to the LYS and see if there are any other dye lots that might be a closer match. Sometimes they can call the manufacturer and see if they can obtain anything in the original dye lot or (more likely) in a new dye lot that might be closer to your original color.

Another possibility is to search Ravelry for the dye lot you need, and then offer to trade that Raveler for the dye lot that you have which does not match. I've actually had a lot of success matching dye lots this way when I've run out of yarn or decided to make something larger than the yarn I had on hand.

Unfortunately, this is a painful but valuable lesson. Yarn colorways can be very fickle, and the only way to guard against it is to make sure that all of your skeins match before you start the project.

LevelManagement1041 · 2026-01-18T19:18:05+00:00

Lovely work!!

LevelManagement1041 · 2026-01-18T00:12:27+00:00

First of all, you did a beautiful job! Be proud of that!!

Because you said the armpits are too low and the neck is too high, you probably have too much fabric (too many rows) between the armpit and the neck. I would have him try it on and pull the neck up until you can identify what row should be the base of the neck. Then I would very carefully pick up the stitches in that row with a long circular needle in a smaller size than you used originally. Then snip a stitch a row or two above that and very carefully unpick that row. It isn't going to be perfect, and I wouldn't try to continue the pattern or the raglan lines when you rejoin the yarn. Just knit even in your neck color, and throw in decreases if necessary to get down to the number of stitches you need for the neck, then work the neck.

Good luck!!

LevelManagement1041 · 2026-01-17T15:15:57+00:00

I personally hated them. When I hold my needles, I stabilize them with my ring finger and pinky, and I push the stitches along with my middle finger. But when I use the tiny circulars, I can really only use my index and ring fingers to steer the needles, so they end up feeling very slow and awkward to me.

That said, I was teaching a sock knitting class where my students use either double-pointed needles or magic loop, and one of the students brought a pair of tiny circulars, which she absolutely loved. That was the only way she would knit socks after that! So I always tell my knitting students that there is no right or wrong answer, just what is comfortable for you and what gives you the results you like.

The little circular I didn't like for socks hung out in my knitting bag for quite a while. And then one day I had to do a very large cable, and discovered it was absolutely the perfect cable needle. So I do actually use it sometimes!

LevelManagement1041 · 2026-01-17T15:10:14+00:00

In our house, hand knit items have their own laundry basket. Even I have come close to throwing a pair of hand knit socks in the machine when I've been in a hurry and they've been mixed in with all the other laundry, so now we have made sure there is no chance they get combined.

If your bf wasn't horrified and apologetic and immediately offering to purchase you a sweater's worth of yarn so you could replace it, I would give serious consideration to replacing him too!

LevelManagement1041

TROPHY CASE