Losing my mind - help!!

hedgehog · 10-09-2005, 09:22 AM

Cables....

Oh man...

Ok.. i am trying to make the DNA Scarf but i'm losing my hair in the process.

Yesterday i had finally cleared my schedule so that i had a full day to myself to knit. My knitpicks order came in and i was soooooo excited i parked myself on the couch with movies and set about to starting...

BUT.... I am having a such a problem with it!!! :crying:

How on earth do you frog a cable pattern when you notice a small mistake with out having to frog the ENTIRE object??!!

I have cast on and frogged this work THREE times so far!!!

Each time, i notice a small mistake a few rows back and then when i try to frog or unknit back to it the whole piece falls apart because it's hard to figure out where the twisted stitches go.

How do you fix mistakes in a cable pattern?? Help?!!

-hh

rebecca · 10-09-2005, 02:43 PM

I don't know how well this will work; I do know that the lady who wrote it is a very experienced knitter with many tips & tricks on her blog. Personally, I can't (as of yet) ladder down to fix a miscrossed cable & I tink back, carefully, st by st to get to the place where I messed up. I can certainly understand where u are having problems bc of the twisted sts AND cables. That was the only resource that I know about, sorry

that I couldn't be of more help with the twisted sts...but, I bet that someone will come along soon who can help u out a great deal. I am currently doing a project with a great deal of cabling and after frogging a couple of times and having to tink back several, I finally got the rhythm of the pattern pattern down & found that I have to glance back over my sts quickly after each cable row to double check that it's done properly; mine is a cast on of 39 sts & have found that the quick double check has become 2nd nature after knitting it for a while...I might suggest that you do that with each cable and/or twist row, too. Good luck, I do love the scarf :D

Ingrid · 10-09-2005, 04:38 PM

I have trouble correcting mistakes on a twisty type pattern, too. I can fix the cable itself if I cross it wrong--just let all the the stitches out and work myself back up. But for things like twisted stitches and small things, if it's not blatantly obvious to anyone but me, I leave it.

Rebecca's point is best, though--look at each cable, and check out your row before you continue--it's really the only way to avoid mistakes not discovered until later.

As you get more familiar with the pattern, you'll find you have fewer and fewer mistakes--kind of like learning a piano piece.

KellyK · 10-09-2005, 05:39 PM

OH, Hedgehog! How FRUSTRATING!

If I were you, Id consider the use of lifelines.....Amy has a video under "fixing mistakes"

Ingrid · 10-09-2005, 05:41 PM

It just clicked that you were doing the DNA scarf. That's a whole other can of worms than the standard cable. I did that scarf a few months ago. I'd use Kelly's suggestion and go with life lines. I don't think I'd be able to fix that type of cable, either.

liznwillow · 10-09-2005, 05:48 PM

Wheewww... Hedgehog, that looks complicated! I'm sure you'll get it and when you do, I want to see some pictures! It's going to be gorgeous.

btw: what are life lines?

Ingrid · 10-09-2005, 06:17 PM

When you are doing a lace or any other kind of pattern that might be difficult to fix or pick up stitches from if you make a mistake, you run a piece of yarn through a row of stitches that you know are correct. Then, if you need to, you can just take the needles out, rip to that point, and slip the needles in through where the yarn is.

hedgehog · 10-10-2005, 02:11 AM

Thanks for the ideas!!

Yes, i think a lifeline would help me immensely! I'll try that so that i don't have to keep unravelling like crazy when i mess up.

And i was trying to make sure i was doing ok as i was going but i don't know what happened - one time a stitch was twisted and i couldn't figure out what i did wrong... one time i forgot the selvege edge for the bottom and it looked weird contrasting with the selvege on the pattern... another time i just didn't notice i knitted instead of purling until i was 4 rows up :rollseyes:

BUT, i think the lifeline is a brilliant idea!

Phew! I don't feel so overwhelmed anymore! (i'm making this for the scientist i did my PhD with as a thank you for his fantastic mentoring. I want it to be as perfect as possible out of deference to him!)

I love this place! :D
-hh

Jeremy · 10-10-2005, 04:26 AM

Boy do I feel your pain. I am working on an aran poncho for my wife and have had to learn how to frog back. The key is to look at the pattern as you are frogging. For example, if you know you want to go back five stitches look at the pattern. If the first three are some sort of cable manuver then take all three off at once keeping your thumb and index finger right below the three stitches so the loops don't disappear. Reassemble the three on the left needle so that they're untwisted. I'm a newbie but I have noticed that the cableing, at least for my pattern is only on the right side. Good luck and write beck if this is not clear.