Ripping

If I had a nickel for every knit stitch I have ripped out, I'd be richer than Bill Gates.

Its impossible to estimate the yardage of knitted yarn that I've ripped, but it would easily reach to and from Mars several times over. Probably enough to have wrapped Mars in knitting yarn for NASA's Rover to have had a soft landing.

Why do I rip? Good question. I can't help myself.

I often knit an item like a baby blanket or afghan making up a design as I knit. Consequently, I have no idea what the finished item will look like until the knitting is far enough along to see the developing pattern. Occasionally I have to rip out a part of the design to try another idea or color, but usually, I have to rip because I made a mistake and noticed it many knitting hours later.

One reason I make these mistakes is because I watch TV when I knit. Generally the TV program is just background noise, but now and then I stop counting stitches and pay attention to the TV screen. I have become adept at momentarily holding the needles with only half a stitch made until ready to finish it when my attention is redirected to knitting. My fingers are nimble enough for these stops and starts, but my brain must skip a neuron or two, and I blithely continue knitting until a BIG error is discovered.

What to do, Percy? What to do?

There aren't many choices, quit and toss, or correct and finish. I choose to correct, but I moan and groan all the way to the finish line then swear off knitting. But not many days go by before I begin thinking of a new design to knit, and pick up the needles again.



Ball of Yarn