Knitting Rant

[soxymoron]

I think there's something wrong with me. Every time I get maybe 3/4 of the way through a large knitting project things start to wrong. I've finished the body of a jumper and I'm halfway through the first sleeve...suddenly I seem to have forgotten how to knit, I drop stitches and have to unpick and randomly start knitting in the middle of a purl row etc. It's so frustrating being close to the end and not able to get any further. Anyone else have the same problem? Would it be best to walk away for a while or work through it?

[knittersusie]

I don't get it so much with knitting except when I'm doing it when I've been doing it all day and I'm knackered, but I get it a lot when I'm learning piano pieces, or bell ringing, or anything else like that. I think it's just a wierd mental thing.

[SpecialKRJ]

I get this occasionally, where I catch myself doing weird things, or I find that I've somehow switched directions while working in the round and have about three rows of reverse stockinette instead of stockinette. That's always frustrating. When that starts happening, I'd suggest putting it down and doing something else for a while. I tried to work through it, thought it was sort of like getting a stitch in your side when you're running and if you just keep going it'll be better afterward. Not so, at least not for me. I think it's because the more you keep at it when you're having one of those moments, the more frustrated you become, which just makes things worse. So my recommendation is that when this happens, with knitting or anything else, take a break.

[busyfingers]

I agree with Special KRJ, but would add that I always unpick the work before putting it down and walking away. Otherwise I would be put off picking it up againknowing that I have to start unpicking before I can get going again!
Maybe in my case I make mistakes because I can see the end of the project looming and I start getting impatient to see the finished article. 

[soxymoron]

I'll definitely remember to unpick before I walk away in the future. It's disheartening having to start with undoing work. I have a feeling this project is going to be ignored for a bit now. I'm glad I'm not alone anyway!

[soozeq]

Sometimes projects need a time out to think about how they're misbehaving...