Typical Crafting Mistakes

Dear users, dear designers,
would you like to share something about typical mistakes in crafting?

99.99% of common mistakes in crafts and the like are caused by thinking, “I know how to do this,” and rushing through it.
It becomes a problem when you get into the habit of making mistakes because you’re too lazy or too complacent to actually read the patterns properly. Okay, I rarely read the patterns—actually, I only glance at them if I’ve never done something like that before; otherwise, the pattern itself tells me how it all fits together while I’m sewing.

Best regards, Inge

As Inge already mentioned, most mistakes happen because people don’t read the patterns properly—when you’re in a hurry, it’s all “hurry, hurry…”—and simply because you jump right in without studying the patterns first. It would be better to study first, then work
(that’s what my son did on his final exam, too; the examiner said at first that he didn’t know the answer, but once my son got started, the examiner quickly realized he knew it…... Junior said, “It takes less time to study first than to fix mistakes later...” 😋😊)

When knitting, I’ve sometimes lost count of the rows and had to unravel a few. Recently, I forgot a buttonhole… so I had to go back a few rows.

I’ve also lost count while following a pattern, but only when I wasn’t paying attention. That’s just where you need to stay focused.

But I don’t think minor mistakes in a handmade project are a big deal if only I notice them. That’s what makes a handmade project special, I tell myself. ;-)

Oh dear... When I make mistakes while knitting or crocheting, I “consistently” unravel it. I’m way too much of a perfectionist... Take a pair of fingerless gloves, for example—I completely missed two rows of the pattern on the second one, right after the cuff. 🙈 I wear them when I’m out on my scooter, but only because no one can see the cuff (not even me). I gave away a lace scarf made from luxury yarn—I didn’t knit the first three rows correctly and didn’t notice until the very end; somehow, the last row just looked “different.” A friend said no one would notice… But I do—I know the mistake is there, and it’s driving me crazy. I was about to unravel it when she looked at me in utter horror, snatched the scarf, and said, “Look how good this looks on me 😉”
  I actually read patterns quite often; I like to try new things, so I read the patterns first and then get started right away, keeping the pattern nearby.
When my husband watches TV in the evening, I usually go into “my” room and do a little more knitting. For that, I make sure to have something on my needles that doesn’t require too much concentration—otherwise, unraveling is inevitable... 

Would anyone else like to add anything?

I’m also a pro at unraveling—it’s actually kind of scary when something turns out right the first time.
And I’m really great at sewing up turning openings, too.
I always thought that once that happened to me, it would never happen again, but no such luck—it happens with remarkable regularity.

You should read the patterns carefully beforehand and mark important parts if necessary. I’ve gotten into the habit of doing this after making careless mistakes time and again.
If a mistake does slip in, I’ll unravel the whole thing if I have to, no matter how big the project is. I’m the only one who sees the mistake, but it drives me crazy because that’s all I can see.
The biggest project that fell victim to this was a curtain. I had to unravel it from row 111 all the way down to row 10.
My sister-in-law kept saying, “There was nothing wrong with it, honestly, there was nothing wrong with it.”

I still remember my first attempts at knitting when I was younger—I used to make this mistake: Instead of pulling the yarn down at the start of the first row, I always looped it from the top to the back. Then you see the two “feet” of the stitch and think there are two stitches, so I ended up unintentionally increasing stitches and wondered why my knitting was coming out crooked. 

Not reading the patterns carefully enough. I skim over them and think, “Oh, yeah, this is easy,” but then I tend to overlook something. I’ve now gotten into the habit of reading everything carefully. Or when I’m working with multiple colors, I always weave in the ends right away so I don’t have as much work to do later. If there was a mistake somewhere after all, I couldn’t fix it anymore. Now I prefer to weave in the ends only after I’m finished and everything is correct. I’ve also sometimes spotted a mistake after the piece was already finished; if it’s for me, I don’t have a problem with it, but if I’m giving it as a gift, it bothers me—though I know others won’t even notice it.