Projects
The Waffling Raglan
In knitting, one word that doesn’t come up that often for me is “humbling.” When doling out the life lessons, knitting has been gentle and positive. Things that look hard get broken down into digestible units: stitch repeats, chunks of cables, little danses of yarnovers. The mind learns them in a friendly, one-step-at-a-time way, so my confidence usually grows instead of shrinks.
But when knitting wants to teach humility, boy can it ever.
On my way home from Nashville ten days ago, I started the Waffle Pullover, my favorite Amy Christoffers design from MDK Field Guide No. 29: Mosaic.
After knitting the neckband, I hunkered down and got myself to the other side of eight whole short rows. Short rows are always a moment of intense focus for me, but I made it to this satisfying state of affairs:
Once I’m done with a set of short rows, and I can see the clever shape they’ve made, how I feel is: accomplished. Proud.
After the short rows, I was off to the races, loving every minute of creating this toothsome yet lightweight mosaic stitch fabric in MDK Jane.
Look how far I got in a week!
All the way to the last 8-round set of alternating raglan increases.
Whee! Feeling good!
But wait. Along the way, I started having one little difficulty. There’s a make-1-left increase that comes at the end of an increase round, right before the BOR (beginning of round) marker (the green marker in the photo above). Without noticing, I was not consistent or particularly neat about that increase. I think I might have been knitting into a ladder of the wrong color? I don’t rightly know.
It took me a while to realize that that messy raglan was noticeable.
Even after I noticed, I kept knitting.
Here are some of the things I was saying to myself while continuing to add rounds:
—It will look better after blocking. (This is obviously true as far as it goes, but blocking is not going to fix that wobbly red line so much as magnify it.)
—I can fudge it later by using duplicate stitches of Shadow to cover those blobs of Persimmon. (How will I do that, exactly? Worry about that later!)
—This raglan will sit on the back of my right shoulder—who’s gonna know? As my mom always said to high school me in an intended-to-be-encouraging way, nobody’s looking at you, Kay!
—This is just my starter Waffle Pullover. Because I love it so much, I will definitely knit a second one, and now that I know how to make that increase properly, Waffle Pullover the Second will be perfect. (What a load of malarkey!)
I went round and round with this self-soothing self-talk, but it was no good. I’ve been listening to myself for a long time, and I know when I’m taking myself for a fool.
My firm stance is that if a thing is fixable, and the knitting is still on the needles, why not fix it? That’s not perfectionism—it’s workmanship. Do the thing as well as you can.
So I had to fix it. First I tried dropping down, stitch by stitch, to each icky increase and doing it right, and then picking up all the ladders in the mosaic pattern.
I tried it on the first (of many) increases. It worked—sorta kinda—and it looked better than before, but it was not fun to do, and it didn’t look as nice as it would if I’d done the increase neatly in the first place. I took a picture, but I do not want to show you that picture.
You know what comes next.
Reader, I ripped back a week of knitting. With grim resolve, I took my stitch count from the dizzying heights of 424 back to the flatlands of 184.
And here I go, to knit it all back. Humbled, for sure—but strengthened in character and as much in love with the Waffle Pullover as ever.
As Elizabeth Zimmermann said in such situations, this is just an opportunity to do more of my favorite hobby—hurrah! I’m getting twice the knitting fun out of those skeins of Jane, and raglans I can show the world.
When you are right. You are right.
I am so impressed. And inspired.
Oh boy, can I ever relate to that! My thoughts and actions would have exactly matched yours. “Look at your work!” I remind myself. Again. And again. And all the rationalizations mean nothing in the end because when I put the time and money into a project, I want it to be RIGHT. And after all, what’s wrong with a little more knitting… ❤️
Been there, done that, then frogged and re-knit. Your frank sharing is admirable and appreciated. I’m waiting for my yarn to start a sweater for my husband. Thank you for the heads up!
I am about to do the same thing and rip out an out 1200 stitches if I can’t fix a small hiccup. But it’s will look better….
I heart you Kay – for just being one of us! I’m looking forward to knitting this sweater so I will keep those increases in mind!
Hear, hear!
It took me 4 tries to get the short rows correct, as I did not focus as much as you did on that part. I was worried I would wear out the yarn before every wearing the sweater. Now I am just hoping I am making the right size, or I will be frogging the whole yoke, too.
Me, too! I find short rows difficult, especially since I have not done the German kind specified here before. Humble learning!
I am exactly there – my waffle has some messiness too. Mine is less obvious because the difference in my colors is more subtle – but it is there….. I’ve gone with no one is looking at me that closely and when I’m wearing it I probably won’t see it. I’m not as far along only in the early 300s but I just can’t rip it out …. I just can’t …. Or should I?????? You are now the angel on my shoulder shouting more loudly at that handsome devil on the other shoulder. So far I’m still hanging with the devil but we’ll see….
Galloping horse!
I think it has been mentioned more than once, but this would make a great knitalong/class for next year’s BOAS with Lorilee! (fingers crossed that she would be willing to teach it!!) It seems like a very skillful guiding hand would be greatly appreciated. Good luck Kay! Love your color choices. Going to be beautiful…
I confess to being an extreme “ripper-outer.’ My eye can never seem to stray from my mistakes! I always thought it was my Type-A personality forcing my hand, but now I know it’s not perfectionism but “workmanship” that makes me do so. Thanks for that tidbit, Kay!
I too am short row phobic.
I will keep your perils in mind as I knit my Waffle Pullover.
Keep us posted on your progress.
Who knows, maybe your second one will be a Waffle Cardigan….Field Guide 29 Part 2.
Knit 1
Peril 2???
So which increase turns out best?? Your readers are curious!
I had to restart three times because I screwed up the short rows.
Now I have one teeny section where in a slip and PURL I dumbly reverted to knit. It’s one section between markers and I thought it wouldn’t be noticeable (it’s in the back as you say) but it is, the more I knit on.
However I am gonna duplicate stitch in a purl looking nub.
I just couldn’t rip out again and now I’ve got the hang of it and it is a fun knit!
That fix sounds super smart to me!
So…can you tell us what exactly created the problem and what would have avoided it? I’m doing a color work raglan now and not sure which “rung” of color to use when doing increases, and how exactly to go about it…from under the other color…behind it? I dunno. Can’t find this information anywhere. Please do explain!
I would be curious too. I looked at the pattern but don’t see any notes about it. It must not be too obvious when doing it until you’ve done a few rows. The M1R’s must be okay since no mention of those. Love the color combo!
I agree, what did you do the created the problem and what would one do to avoid the issue. I want to knit this sweater, but now I fee like there is an issue I would not catch and don’t want to start it and get super frustrated.
I would answer this but I’m not quite sure! It is not a problem with the type of increase, I think it was that I chose the wrong strand between stitches at the BOR because of visual confusion on my part.
I’m going to call in one of our top knitting generals!
Your justifications for continuing in spite of the mistake I have made. Every one. It’s so silly to keep going once you notice the problem. But then I can be silly in the name of “I don’t want to …believe it…or see it…..” And like you said, sometimes it’s OK to take a deep breath and say, “it’s process, not product” right now and enjoy the fun of unraveling. Thanks for letting us know we are not alone.
I am in the EXACT SAME SITUATION. I have put it in time out trying to decide what to do. I’m nowhere near as far as you and need to just rip it back. That increase was such a point of indecision and anxiety. I messaged Amy via Ravelry and she clarified for me but I’ve been afraid to face it. But, yeah, when that messiness showed up, I wished I had started on the one-color version. LOL!
Would you mind sharing the clarification you got from Amy? Thank you!
Ripping back is a luxury. Enjoy. I’m crazy about the colors you chose.
Relatable. So very, very relatable 🙂
I so appreciate your honesty and wisdom especially regarding this sweater. I want to make it as soon as my Stria is finished. I will swatch and try to figure out how to get the increases correct. I know a thing or two about tinking half fisherman rib…no fun but challenging. Love your sweater & inspiration.
So relatable! I was laughing out loud over my coffee as I read your column…Thank you, Kay….
A very humbling experience, indeed. Love the EZ quote!
I feel your pain. I spent last night threading dental floss through the width of the blanket I’m knitting (it can still get chilly at night here in Michigan!) so that I can rip out 17 rows to correct a cable error. I’d didn’t need to much time to decide to frog it, only to contemplate how best to do so. Your sweater will be all the better for the increased time investment and you’ll be spared the worry of anyone noticing the error! (Which you already knew!)
If Amyl could share the insights she gained from conferring with the author of the pattern it would be most appreciated!
Such a relatable experience so thanks for sharing this! Its so tiring to wrestle with your thoughts as you clearly delineated and then make the inevitable decision to frog. But SO satisfying to move on with the corrected piece.
And who was that famous knitter who said that a mistake doesn’t matter as long as you can’t see it while riding by on a galloping horse?
I once hated frogging… HATED I tell ya!
That was before I learned ways of repairing my mistakes by dropping stitches & working them back in (even in LACE… GASP!!!) but, like you Kay, I found the results were no always satisfactory. I learned to love swatching at about the same time. BEST car knitting project ever is diving into stash & picking out a few lovelies to see what joys or issues they may hold and what kind of fabric they give back!
Also like you, when I find I’ve made an unintentional “artistic reinterpretation” of the pattern, I often knit on for a bit “waffling” back & forth (see what I did there?? Lol!) on whether or not this is an imperfection that I can live with. Sometimes I can, but often now I opt to frog. To me this is a sign of growth and maturity in a knitter. When we start, those few prescious stitches are SO hard earned and fought for that the thought of/practice of taking them out & moving backwards is devastating! As a beginner, those little glitches are signs of growth, battle scars in the struggle to gain proficiency, and as such, they fully merit keeping to record the efforts and the gains!
Now though, I definitely espouse the “I get to knit MORE with no more stash growth” frame of mind. Don’t get me wrong! I love my stash & am a firm believer in “more is more & less is a bore!” Still, to everything there is a time and a season; a time to grow your stash and a time to knit it down, a time to frog your imperfections and a time to knit on through.
Thanks for sharing what you have learned! When we start our Waffle Journeys we will know to watch for that wrong turn hidden in plain sight!
I feel your pain, Kay! I haven’t knitted the waffle yet but I have had so many projects I had to frog because I missed a simple comma in the pattern, for example. It’s frustrating, but as you say, character-building!
Oh, what a comfort you are, Kay! This year I’ve been enjoying my yarn multiple times, as several sweaters have including multiple un-knittings—one even got the Fatal Frogging! Good thing I love to knit.
Very impressive! I’ve been there and had the same conversation with myself! Are we related?? Are you retired? People told me I’d have all the time in the world once I was retired and have much more time for my crafts. However, it seems with retirement went my power of concentration. It was well on its way of being diminished when we all were in the pandemic…add to that retirement and there you go!
I am a troubled raglan increaser myself, beloved co-bloggette. I tend to forget the increase that is supposed to happen at the end of a round. What I do now: when an increase is called for at the end of a round, I just do it at the start of the round instead. This has made a difference, because I do the increase when I’m all Hey It’s A New Round Better Do That Increase instead of Hope I Remember To Do That Increase 300 Stitches From Now. When it’s a paired increase, this means doing the first increase of the pair at the end of one round, then slipping the marker and doing the second increase immediately after.
I do that too! So much easier!
Thank you. I needed to read this today.
Short rows… offset. How? Found it. Rio it back? No! Who will see? Will the lace yoke be centered? Where IS the center back now?
Sleep on it.
Read MDK in the am.
There’s the answer you were dreading. Yup.
Nice to know humbling happens to you, too,
I can do this!
We’ve all been in the same situation and done the same thing. Before I accept the reality and begin to frog the incorrect section, I always remember what my 11th grade chemistry professor said, “A job worth doing is worth doing well.”
Gosh Kay, I’m just working on a stockinette blanket and two-thirds of the way through I’m already “humbled” by a slight (I hope!) change in gauge. Whatever will I do with lifted increases and short rows?? Why, I should think of you and the idea of “workmanship.” Thanks for a strong dose of realism in my knitting and hopefully a bit stiffer knitting backbone. (As for that blanket, not much backbone needed, I finally realized. It can be blocked, of course! Duh!)
So much fun to read you talking to yourself. Wow: workmanship vs. perfectionism. Loved this and love the fabric!
I feel lucky now that I got through the increases without an incident. I am doing mine all in the heather color, so maybe I just don’t see it. My issue is that I have loved knitting this so much, I developed tendinitis in my shoulder. A reminder for everyone to use good ergonomics while knitting.
Haven’t we all been there, done that? I tell myself that I enjoy knitting, and it’s just more knitting so what difference does it make? I don’t have deadlines (usually) so knit on!
I try to talk myself out of fixing. But it will drive me nuts, if I don’t fix it. Maybe no one else will see the problem but I’ll always know it’s there. Then I wouldn’t enjoy wearing it.
We knitters are proponents of Magical Thinking. Not that it works, but our belief is strong!
When I saw “character-building”, and then “humbling”, I thought, “uh, oh.” Especially since I want to knit this very sweater.
We have all been there. Should I grow out my hair to hide that shoulder seam in back, or should I just rip it out and do it right? You did the right thing, hard as it is. Good for you! You will love your sweater. It really is beautiful.
I love it when famous knitters let us know that even they make mistakes and have had the experience of ripping back a tremendous amount of knitting.
I feel your pain! I just frogged a tank top in variegated silk yarn that I’d been working on for a month. I kept telling myself that the weird pooling of the yarn wouldn’t bother me and that I’d absolutely wear the finished product, but I finally had to admit to myself that I found it hideous and would never. Still trying to figure out what to do with the yarn…it’s beautiful but challenging!
So sorry Kay – I feel for you. Especially since I had to do the same thing myself though I only had about half as far to rip back in my Waffle Pullover! Those increases are simple to do until things get a bit off, and then they’re not. The fabric we’re making is so lovely however so it’s worth getting it right.
O. M. G. I just went through the EXACT same thing with this pattern, which I love. I had only gotten to 256 stitches and discovered my mistake, but I went thru the same process. Will anyone notice? I pondered for 3 days and decided last night to take it out. I am laboriously taking it out stitch by stitch because I don’t think I can track which row I’m on unless I do it that way. (I’m doing one color only). I loved reading this, though, as it reinforced my decision to go back and make it right.
Thanks for your honesty, Kay! Your letter came at just the right time as I did the exact same thing on a sport weight cotton/linen blend sweater. I somehow feel better about it knowing I’m not the only one going through it.
“Taking myself for a fool” Oh we laughed and laughed
Whether anyone else noticed or not….you would always remember it was there. When that happens – at least for me – it’s time to work it back and start over. YOU will be much happier in the long run. (Or maybe I’m just projecting my feelings on to you?)
I have also felt that learning to rip out carefully is as important as learning to knit. It hasn’t always felt good doing it but it’s necessary. Love your Field Guides and daily writings. Thank you.
We have all been there. I’m working a pattern now, that has terrible instructions. One half is in time out. When I can bear it, I’ll go back to it and figure out how it should be done right. There are a lot of short rows to rip out. Maybe a lifeline before ripping…I should be able to stand it soon. My summer lacy linen knitting is in the wings, but I don’t like working on something new before something is finished. It’s all part of the process, but sometimes it hurts! I also knew it didn’t look right, but I was “following the directions.”
OMG. How many times have I just kept knitting knowing full well in the back of my mind something was wrong that just kept catching my eye it would be always there looking at me, that consistent error never going away, nagging at me, and then just giving in and ripping back eventually, humbled and inevitably better off.
all I can say is “ain’t the the truth”. Thanks for sharing your latest adventure. If you call it that, maybe it really will be…
Wow! Such resolve. I totally understand it though, as I’ve done the same thing more than once. As painful as it was in the moment, in the end I knew I would not be satisfied with the finished garment if I didn’t fix my mistake(s). I hope you love your beautiful new sweater!
P.S. I can relate to your self-talk, too.
I’d have finished the darned thing and then had to rip it all. I think it is really admirable that you stopped and reworked when you did.
You have given us knitting’s equivalent of a police procedural- so tense yet so very familiar.
And, if anyone can come up with a tracking system for short rows, there’s probably a Knitting Knobel in it for them.
I’m impressed with the optimism after ripping out a week’s worth of knitting. I recently had to do that and did not feel optimistic about it! I’m going to try really hard to look at it that way. Thank you for the incentive and pointers on the Waffle Pullover pattern I want to make!
Your honesty and humour is wonderful Kay. Thanks for this! I love the waffle stitch sweater but top down, short rows, in the round has stopped me cold. One challenge per pattern is enough for me. I love patterns with seams and separate pieces. Maybe I’ll look for the stitch pattern in other projects. For me, knitting is all about relaxation; there are enough challenges in life these days! Good luck on your next attempt.
I’m at about the same spot in the waffle pullover but I’m slow and it has taken me about three weeks! I think my raglan line at the BOR looks a little wonky but not bad enough to frog. As much as I love this thing I don’t think I’ll knit another. This stitch pattern is very slow going for me as I’m a very slow purler and there is lots of purling!
I recently frogged a shawl five times, and on Monday, frogged five rows of a cowl after goofing up a pattern repeat that I have done 14 times (seven repeats each, for two completed cowls) plus 4 repeats on this third cowl. I’m still not giving up knitting.
Funny experience and I can soo feel ur pain as I’m currently experiencing it by changing needle size smaller to larger and expecting that visible line across where i changed to dissappear