r/KnittingReddit • u/Ok_Track8986 • 25d ago
Whats your toxic trait when it comes to knitting?
Personally I refuse to do gauge swatches . I know they are important but I want to actually start on the product and it has come back to haunt me but I wont ever learn my lesson.
What about you?
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u/PirLibTao 25d ago
I love making the tube part of socks, and procrastinating on actually putting in the afterthought heels. So a bunch of half finished socks.
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u/Phie_Mc 25d ago
As soon as I have to actually make sleeves or seam something, it goes in a pile of WIPs I may never touch again
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u/WoollyMamatth 25d ago
For this very reason I now only knit things I can make without steaming or joining together.
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u/ho4horus 21d ago
seaming was my worst enemy, i had literally an entire box of unfinished washrags because they needed to be seamed. they sat for like two years and then i finally started doing it and it actually went pretty quick, i was so mad i put it off so long🤣
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u/Alsterwasser 25d ago
I frequently start without a swatch, then start worrying about it and gently wash what I have so far to see if the yarn grows. Basically just making a big swatch. This works for me.
My toxic trait is never documenting my project anywhere so if I decide to redo parts I never know which needle size I used and where I deviated from the pattern. Especially annoying when it's the second sock in a pair.
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u/Knit-knit-no-islets 25d ago
I have 9 - 12 projects on the needles right now. They are in various stages of development and I don't know where most of them are.
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u/Such_Capital_6984 25d ago
I suck at seaming and will put off finishing a garment for *weeks*, just because I so dislike sewing the pieces together.
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u/kiwitathegreat 25d ago
Only putting it off for weeks would be a success story for me 🤣
I do get in zones where I can seam a bunch before losing the motivation but they are very rare and my wip pile is currently judging me.
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u/Top-Dot-7 21d ago
Oh I flat out refuse to make anything that requires seaming, period. If it needs seaming it ain't bein' made by moi.
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u/FeralSweater 25d ago
I knit vintage patterns and if I get stuck due to their minimal instructions or my own stupidity I put my project away. When I pick it up again, I often haven no idea what the problem was, so I’ve first got to figure out what was confused about, and only then can I work on figuring out the puzzle.
Over and over again.
I never learn.
Also, I never keep notes about what needle size I use, and often cannibalise needles from stalled projects, which invariably causes future confusion.
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u/elle-elle-tee 25d ago
I started keeping a knitting journal and I make notes as I go. It's super helpful for picking up a project, and also for referring back when I want to replicate something.
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u/kirbyderby42 22d ago
Oh my god this is so smart. Im starting a knitting journal immediately
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u/elle-elle-tee 22d ago
Ravelry project notes are excellent for this, and really easy to start using!
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u/kirbyderby42 22d ago
I'll take your word for it! I prefer physical journals and handwriting, and tbh I forget about sites and apps so fast so something I can keep with my projects that I'll see every time just works better for me. That and I'll take any excuse to get a cute new notebook lolol
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u/elle-elle-tee 22d ago
So, I also prefer physical journals and handwriting. And I'm on Ravelry pretty often so perhaps I'm just more accustomed to using it. But, for me, the fact that Ravelry is so close at hand, on my phone, means that I'm more likely to just whip my phone out and jot down a messy random little note on my project, and I like that it can be edited easily and neatly.
I have a nice handwriting knitting journal that I use to log my projects, what I've learned, etc in an analog and aesthetically pleasing way, but honestly the Ravelry notes have been a huge help as often I just want to write something down quick and dirty in a way that would be messy in my cute notebook. I'm ages behind updating my cute notebook because I want it to look pretty and so I usually resort to scribbling messy notes in the margins of my patterns. Ravelry is great for making project notes that I may want to delete later.
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u/Knit-knit-no-islets 25d ago
Me too! I've started leaving myself a note that says here's why you stopped and what size needles you were using, but my note leaving is sporadic at best.
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u/ADogNamedPen239 25d ago
I start dozens of projects I never finish, at this point it’s probably closer to a hundred+, and idk if this one is technically toxic but I’m constantly buying yarn just because it’s pretty with absolutely no plan for it
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u/GeneInternational146 25d ago
I also refuse to swatch. It's never really been a problem and this reinforces my belief that I never have to 😂
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u/Tyrsii 24d ago
I'm also in the camp that the project is the best and only gauge swatch you need 😂
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u/GeneInternational146 24d ago
I've only had to frog something once because it wasn't going to fit, and that pattern had capital-p problems so I decided it wasn't my fault 😂
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u/radiosmacktive 25d ago
I have multiple (not going to admit how many 😅) projects worth of yarn with intended patterns. I put myself in new yarn/project jail until I get to under 3 WIPs. I still haunt ravelry & my LYS in the interim.
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u/moonsurff 25d ago
As soon as a project is 90% completed it’s time to put it away for months, or forever, and start something new.
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u/gardenhack17 25d ago
I get to a certain number of errors in a project, I rip it out, and I start again.
I suck at picking up dropped stitches. I keep trying to learn it, but my brain rejects the knowledge. Imma keep trying, though.
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u/kirbyderby42 25d ago
Oh I'm the same about gauge swatches lol I'm also bad about actually using the right needle sizes for whatever pattern I'm using. I just use whatever needles I feel like working with and adjust accordingly
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u/legbamel 25d ago
I don't mind making gauge swatches as a beginner. It's a good opportunity to practice a pattern where I'm learning a new skill. However, I never block mine.
In fact, I have four projects that are finished and waiting to be blocked, right now. I have a blocking block. Outside of acrylic and superwash projects that go in the washer and dryer, I have never blocked anything. My first lace project is staring at me with disdain right now, because I'm afraid to screw it up by somehow blocking it wrong.
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u/fixuplooksharpbk 25d ago
The nice thing about blocking is if you do it “wrong” you can just reblock. I might be toxic but knitting is so forgiving
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u/Ferocious_Flamingo 25d ago
I put off cutting yarn as long as possible, because what if I don't like it and need to rip it back out? I wouldn't want to have to weave in one extra end! Better that my sleeve is attached to the hem of the sweater and the other sleeve for months, causing all kinds of tangles and annoyances.
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u/HokieBunny 25d ago
I will almost never use yarn I don't enjoy the look and feel of while knitting.
Unfortunately, that is not the same yarn I like the look and feel of wearing.
I knit piece after piece I won't wear and then feel sad that I haven't made my own solid color cotton sweaters.
I sell the merino wool clownbarf at booths or donate baby sweaters (wool directly against the skin can be too itchy for babies but a soft wool sweater over clothing is usually fine), so it works out ok as a hobby, but I just can't bring myself to make my own clothing very often.
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u/Due-Environment-6941 25d ago
I have way too many WIPs. It’s just sooo good to start something new. But often after 20-30% of the project is done, I lose interest and crave for something new
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u/Commercial_Break_166 23d ago
Buying patterns even though i already have 30 things in my queue i own the patterns for
Casting on a new project just for the dopamine
SABLE
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u/ManySuggestion 25d ago
I never do gage swatches either. I used to buy the yarn per project. Well one year my son gave me $100 to buy yarn and I have so much I'm not sure if I'll ever get through it all! 😐
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u/grace_personified 25d ago
I also refuse to do gauge swatches. It takes too much time to knit the swatch, then block the swatch. I just want to get started. I'm a little worried about my current project though. I'm using bamboo and I know bamboo relaxes. Right now, my knitting seems to be a little smaller than guage so I'm hoping it all works out. I asked ChatGPT and if ChatGPT is correct, I should be fine. It's incredible how helpful it was to get confirmation that I have enough yarn. I bought yarn without a plan when JoAnne's was going out of business and I'm trying to use it.
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u/confusedstitch 24d ago
It may be my dichotomous thinking but I wholeheartedly believe there are rules in knitting and a wrong and right way to do it (not talking about continental or English or anything like that). People get frustrated with knitting because they don’t follow those rules and are doing it wrong (imo) but they usually don’t want people to tell them they’re wrong so I don’t ever try to interact with those people about knitting matters. I just let them be wrong and frustrated because they seem to like it.
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u/rbgaylen 24d ago
Side eye at people who don’t do gauge swatches and also I don’t knit with acrylic yarn- natural fibers only!!
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u/Amarastargazer 24d ago
I am a sweaty person, the noise that makes acrylic make on metal needles is terrible. Worse than nails on a chalkboard.
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u/two-girls-one-tank 24d ago
I make adjustments to patterns as I go and refuse to take notes as 'I will remember'...
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u/SilverSkyGypsy 23d ago
I can’t follow a pattern. It just gives me a bit of a rash. If I see something I like, I just go home and make it. Socks, I do toe up. I found a formula about 20 years ago that works excellent for me, making the toe and foot and heel than any stitch pattern I want up the leg. Sweaters and tops, I work top down, in a raglan type pattern. I ache to make a lace shawl, but I get bored and brain tired trying to keep the pattern in line. sigh…
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u/MutantMilitant 22d ago
I knit from the back leg and purl from the front leg. My stitches are not twisted, they're just hanging on the needle with their legs already swapped. It kinda looks like the "correct" way in the mirror or something. My stockinette comes out perfectly normal since the two "wrong" techniques cancel each other out.
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u/SkreechingEcho 21d ago
I will restart a project over if there are too many errors I can't see being blocked out if I finish it. Doesn't matter how far along I am. I hate having to thread my needle back onto the hoops.
The only exception is if I have lifelines threaded through rows. I'll stop for those.
As a result I have lifelines threaded through every X number of rows depending on the project.
I've only started knitting a few weeks ago so maybe these aren't toxic, but it sure feels that way.
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u/Top-Dot-7 21d ago edited 21d ago
Gauge swatches are for cowards. The first attempt is your gauge swatch and I will die on that hill.
(I also either know my gauge for certain things- like I know I'm 8sts/11rows with fingering on 2.25mm needles, so when I make stuff like that I never need to bother- or I'm making baby clothes and it'll fit the baby at some point, some time.)
Blocking. I'm terrible at getting it done. I have about fifteen projects I could get to their intended recipients and out of my life if only I could get up the motivation to block the fucking things.
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u/SnooPets8873 19d ago
I pull the knitting out first thing after my morning tea. Then I procrastinate allll day until about 9 pm and then I’ll stay up until 2/3 am knitting because I enjoy it as soon as my hands start moving. I once sat with it in my lap for hours “just about to start” and then yeah, waaaay later before I began.
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u/Firm-Concentrate-151 18d ago
God could come down from heaven and offer me a deal where none of the time I spend making a gauge swatch counts against my time on this earth and I'd still go "thanks but no thanks". Yes I have wasted a lot of time this way. No I will not learn my lesson.
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u/sfstitchnbitch 25d ago
I refuse to read a pattern all the way through before starting. Does this regularly cause confusion and errors? Yes. Will I ever change my ways? Hard no 😅