In this video, I'm sharing the knitting mistakes that shaped my journey and the valuable lessons they taught me.
Whether you're a beginner or an experienced knitter, we all make mistakes, and they are often our best teachers. Here are my four biggest ones. Bonus: you will find out how many sweaters I destroyed.
The mistakes at a glance
- Mistake 1: I washed my wool sweaters in the washing machine (0:27)
- Mistake 2: I chose a color that I don't wear (5:22)
- Mistake 3: I knit a smaller size because "alpaca grows" (7:32)
- Mistake 4: I didn't buy enough yarn (11:08)
Mistake 1: I washed my wool sweaters in the washing machine
The Afmæli sweater was the one I dreamed of making for quite a while. When I finally made it, I was super happy. I even wore it on my trip to Svalbard, and I was so proud of myself.
Once I was back, I decided to wash my knitwear. I knew that pure wool should be washed by hand, and this is what I was usually doing. But this time I had four or five sweaters. I just didn't have the capacity to wash them all by hand and then find the space to lay them all flat to dry at the same time. My washing machine has a wool programme. What can go wrong?
I didn't check how harsh the spin in this programme was. And apparently, that was it.
The result:
- The Afmæli sweater came out so small that it wasn't even a kids-size sweater. Unfortunately, I had to throw it away.
- The Riddari sweater was actually knit for my husband, and he is a bigger boy than me. Now I'm the lucky owner of this sweater. I'm not a big fan of the colors, but you know, lesson learned.
Lesson learned:
- Take your time and wash your knitwear by hand. It doesn't take that much time, and at least you will be sure that it survives.
- If you decide to use the washing machine anyway, the wool programme alone is not enough. Check the spin setting as well. I think it should be at zero, but I never tried again. I'm so scared that I don't even come close to the washing machine with my knitwear. Only hand wash now.
Mistake 2: I chose a color that I don't wear
A perfectly nice sweater, right? This is Anna's Cardigan - My Size by PetiteKnit, knit in Tinde from Hillesvåg, a Norwegian yarn producer. It is a DK weight yarn, 260 m per 100 g, and the color is Cognac, which is amazing.
So what is my problem? The color. I like it from a distance, and I like it when somebody else is wearing it. But I don't like it on myself. I just don't feel comfortable in it. It's my size, everything fits, and I still wear it at home only. I didn't even weave in all the ends.
Maybe I will repurpose the yarn for something else.
Lesson learned: before you buy the yarn, make sure that you like the color on yourself and that you see yourself wearing it. Liking the color in the skein is not enough.
Mistake 3: I knit a smaller size because "alpaca grows"
Initially, this was a fully finished Stripes! sweater by Andrea Mowry. I loved the pattern, and I loved knitting it. Nothing wrong with it. The problem was the yarn choice.
I used Drops Alpaca. I bought it as a discount bag, where they don't tell you the colors in advance, so you get it very cheap and then you have a surprise. It is a very nice yarn: soft, warm, and great to the touch. But it is 100% alpaca, and alpaca grows.
I knew that. So I thought: I'm smart here, I will knit a smaller size, and eventually it will just grow. What can go wrong?
I finished the sweater, and it was so small and tight that I couldn't even start wearing it. How is it supposed to grow if I can't put it on?
So I unraveled it, and now the yarn lives a new life in other projects:
- Sagostad mittens by Sofia Capelle. The blue and the yellow are Drops Alpaca, the white is Finull from Rauma in the color 401, and the red is Finull as well. I love them and wear them all the time.
- My granny square blanket, which you might remember from Episode 1. Gray, brownish-red, blue, pink, red - a lot of squares are made of this alpaca. So instead of becoming a sweater, it became a blanket. It is still not finished, but I like it already.
Lesson learned: use the right material for your project. And don't hope that you can knit a smaller size and the yarn will grow into the right one. Just don't do it.
Mistake 4: I didn't buy enough yarn
I had already knit one Favo Sweater by Fiber Tales, and it turned out great. So I decided to make another one.
The yarn is a blend of 58% merino wool, 30% silk and 12% linen, 210 m per 100 g, from Wooly Yarn. The color is so vibrant, I just love it. But there is a catch with this shop: they have a limited amount of each yarn in stock, and when it runs out, it is gone. You can't buy more.
I bought 450 g. The smallest size in the pattern needs 950 m, and I thought I had slightly more than that. It wasn't the same yarn as in the pattern, but the meters per 100 g were more or less similar. Should be enough. And again I thought I was being smart.
I started with the sleeves. I even used a provisional cast-on and skipped the cuffs, to adapt the sleeve length in the end. Two sleeves done, and I was more than halfway through the front panel, when I looked at the cone: 170-180 g left. It will not be enough.
This sweater has a lot of cables and a squishy brioche-like texture, where you basically knit every round twice. It takes a lot of time and, as it turns out, a lot of yarn.
So now I have a half-finished sweater that I need to rip out. I will repurpose the yarn for something simpler, because it is amazing: very soft, and the color is so vibrant.
Lesson learned:
- Make sure you buy enough yarn, and have a little bit more than you think you need.
- If you substitute the yarn, calculate it well.
- Cables and brioche take much more yarn than plain stockinette.
By the way, kitchen scales help a lot with this kind of math. I show how I use them in my top 10 knitting tools episode.
Patterns that I've mentioned in this video:
- Afmæli 20-year Anniversary Sweater by Védís Jónsdóttir for Ístex, knit in Drops Nepal
- Riddari by Védís Jónsdóttir for Ístex, knit in 3-tråds Strikkegarn from Rauma
- Anna's Cardigan - My Size by PetiteKnit, knit in Tinde from Hillesvåg
- Stripes! by Andrea Mowry, knit in Drops Alpaca
- Sagostad by Sofia Capelle, knit in Drops Alpaca and Rauma Finull
- Favo Sweater by Fiber Tales, knit in a wool-silk-linen blend yarn from Wooly Yarn
Just starting out?
Here is my guide to what you need to make your first knitting project. It will help you to avoid a few mistakes of your own.
What has been your biggest knitting mistake? Share your story in the comments!
