The 2x Rule
There are a few knitting podcasts I watch on YouTube, including Leslie Friend, Wool Needles Hands, and Annika Scheer. Recently, Annika's episode, 10 Knitting Tips That Actually Make You a Better Knitter, inspired me to write this blog post. Her first tip is the "2X Rule," and it's a simple yet valuable concept.
According to this rule, if you make a mistake in your knitting and find yourself questioning whether to fix it twice, you should stop and frog back. As Annika points out, the hours you've already spent knitting are gone. If a mistake continues to bother you, but you keep knitting anyway, you're only investing more time into something you're likely going to rip back later. Ultimately, if a mistake is significant enough to upset you, you're less likely to truly love and wear the piece you've spent so many hours creating.
Let me share my experience with the Ease Tee. I'm knitting it with two yarns held together: Ito Kinu and Shimo. Somehow, I split the yarns and accidentally knitted one stitch with Kinu and another with Shimo, creating two stitches instead of one. If this had happened under the arm or along the side of the sweater, I probably would have let it go. But because it happened on the upper back, I knew I wouldn't be able to ignore it.
When I discovered the mistake, I had already knitted about 1.5 inches past it. There was no way to turn those two rows into one, so, due to my frustraion, I decided to put the tee in a time-out. Once I was in the right mindset, I marked the stitch, took the project off the needles, frogged back, and then put the stitches back on the needle.
By the time I noticed the mistake, I had already knitted about 1½ inches past it. There was no way to turn those two stitches back into one without ripping back, so, out of frustration, I put the tee in a time-out. Once I was in a better mindset, I marked the stitch, took the project off the needles, frogged back to the mistake, and carefully put all the stitches back on the needle. After fixing the mistake, I felt so relieved and happy!
The next time you're deciding what to do about a mistake, keep the 2X Rule in mind. If it truly doesn't bother you, keep knitting! But if you find yourself thinking about it over and over again, save yourself the extra time and fix it sooner rather than later. Trust me - you'll be glad you did.
