I can't count!

#1

Well, I just started trying to follow a pattern for a baby sweater (using cheap acrylic DK instead of the alpaca specified - I’m not confident enough yet, and the baby doesn’t have to wear it!) and 17cm in, I realise I’m 4 stitches short! :pout: Well, technically it’s 3 stitches short, but I’d just realised I’d accidentally added one in there a couple of rows back. :doh: And there are no obvious accidental decreases or dropped stitches…it’s all good-looking, even stuff.

This is kind of the first proper pattern I’ve followed, and I totally can’t believe that I started off by casting on the wrong number of stitches! :wall: I’d really hate to rip it all right back to the start, but … well, is it terminal? :frog: or can I just sneak the new stitches in when I start increasing anyway, and hope for the best, ‘learning from my mistakes’?

Basically, is there anything to be learnt from carrying on?

counts again
:hair: :roll: :roflhard:

#2

yeah you learn that you don’t have to frog every mistake! I wouldn’t wait to sneak them in when you do your increases though, since that might make it look more obvious. i would do 1 per row if you have enough time or just sneak them in various place (without doing all four at once!) …whatever works. i certainly wouldn’t frog!

#3

What method did you use to cast on? I used to make that mistake when I first started knitting and would use the long-tail method–the first stitch looks like two and sometimes I would knit them seperately.

If no one is going to wear the sweater then it might not continue to keep on and fix it by decreasing…at least that way you can see what it would look like if that ever happened on a “real” project.

#4

Yep, long-tail thumb method, so it could be a similar problem. relief! Thanks for that, Cristy! And thanks Brendajos, too, for the tips - much appreciated! :muah:

My sister really likes the colours of the yarn (various blue, white, purple & turquoise), and asked if I could make something for her coming baby out of it - but personally I probably wouldn’t choose acrylic for baby clothes. So I’ll make it, hopefully make some other stuff out of better materials when I have a little more experience, and leave the choice to her. At this stage, it’s all good practice! :smiley:

#5

Surely you won’t make it out of alpaca?? Please don’t use hand wash yarn, or anything that might be scratchy. It’s perfectly okay to use acrylic for baby clothes. They spit up and spill lots of stuff so whatever they wear really needs to be something to toss in the washer and not worry about. Acrylic baby yarns are really soft and have nice colors; if you don’t want pastels, there are other soft, nice acrylics that would work too.

sue

#6

Sirdar snuggly is great acrylic yarn for baby items it is very soft I am making a blanket out of it now and I love it.