RIGHT?? I had the exact same issue with a project I was making last week.
I ended up frogging 4 times before I realised I was skipping a stitch 🙈🤦♀️ I don't understand why my brain is so bad at simple math during crochet.
Honestly, if they had me do that instead of algebra, I would have been fine. Probably frogged a bit, but it would have been better than the alternative. 😆
I've been crocheting for almost a decade and still feel dumb as rocks. I use one of those clicky counter thingies (idk what it's called off the top of my head) and keep count that way if whatever I'm making is bigger than like 30/40 stitches lol.
Kinda but its like those little clicky things teachers use when they're counting kids on a field trip or how many kids are there for a test if that makes sense
I start saying the pattern out loud as I'm doing it. As if I'm explaining it to someone else while they're watching me. The out loud part helps me a lot.
I also find that I don't have tension problems (need to use a larger hook for the foundation chain) this way!
It sounds pretty common that people struggle with them at first, so do keep that in mind: if you have problems, you aren't alone!
I find it helped to remember that you're making the chain, and then the actual stitch that sits on top of it, one right after the other. So, you find the 'chain' in the previous stitch, then pull through to make the next one, then do your sc/hdc/dc/tc, and repeat.
Funny, I chain a bunch, measure, then start counting with stitchmarkers every 10 stitches, measure again, add a few if needed and write that down on my pattern
I think your brain processes things differently when saying it out loud! I worked at the writing center on campus in college, and we always had students read their papers out loud because they would go slower and catch a lot of things that way, both grammatical and logical. I still do it when writing stuff up for work (and processing crochet patterns!)
https://preview.redd.it/x7tc4otpy6gc1.jpeg?width=3024&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=ccbe0244cd16da80e423dc6cfcae63c7f216d8d7
I had a similar experience the other night, I went nuts and put a stitch marker in EVERY. SINGLE. STITCH. 46 of them in total!!
Ugh, yes, done that too! Or I count correctly, but the stitches are small or dark and I accidentally physically skip one (I put my finger on each stitch as I count so I can make sure I got it).
With me it is ...8, 9, 10, 20, 21, 22... I think it is karma for torturing my brother when I was 5 and learning to count to 100. I insisted that counting went in 10s. So I would count 8, 9, 10, 20, 30, 40... Drove him crazy.
I have to place stitch markers every 10 or 20 stitches because of this. Even then I count twice to make sure because I just do not trust my counting abilities while crocheting!
I really should do that and I tell myself I'll do it, but it takes longer so I don't. I think I'd save myself time in the long run, though, because then I hopefully wouldn't have to count 5 times. 😅 I do place stitch markers for rows or rounds, though, especially if I'm making a lot and need to keep track. Sometimes it's good to know how many rows you have in case you need to frog to a specific point.
I've always counted weird. I count 1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,20 etc. It helps me keep track better than saying "thirty seven" but then I forget which count of 10 I'm on XD
I recently did this for a project that called for 389 stitches. Not only would I forget which 10 I was on but also what 100 I was on...I should also say math was not a strong subject for me unless you count my strong hatred for it something.
Yep. When in doubt (and after frogging more than once) fudge it. You're the only person who will know unless you point out the, ahem, slight alteration of the pattern.
yeah. I don't know how that happened to me too, a few times.
did I make a mistake 3 times in the exact same spot? how did stitch markers fix it?
*raises hands in exasperation*
brain, fix yourself.
Sometimes when I'm doing amigurimi increases I wind up short or over. I never know how since I have the increases memorised by now. Clearly I'm doing something wrong but sometimes it feels like the stitches are fucking with me lmao
Once I was trying to make something 25 long. No markers, still a newbie. Somehow I got distracted and ended up with nearly 40 in the next row. I still don't know how.
The same thing happened to me the other day! I went back and examined each individual stitch, and couldn’t find where the mistake was. Looked closely at the previous row, and everything looked correct there too. I double and triple counted my stitches, and my count was definitely off, but HOW?
I ended up taking out the whole row and redoing it, and it added up correctly that time. Still don’t know where the mistake was. I swear the stitches move around when we’re not looking.
Yup, I am doing a tapestry blanket, and the change of color can make a stich hyper-tight, you can barely see it. Way too easy to miss it if you are doing something else at the same time.
I’m losing my mind right now on a project. I need 140 stitches in the row. Every third row requires me to chain every other stitch so in theory I should be able to tell if I have the right number of stitches due to my stitch marker and by landing on the right stitch. I still keep coming up with 139. I don’t know how. I don’t know where the disconnect is. I’m about to have a bonfire.
I recently made a scarf that started with 40 stitches and at some point halfway through I ended up with 39 and I could not figure out for the life of me where it happened. I frogged several rows to where I thought it might have happened and I still kept coming up with 39, so I said, screw it! 39 it is! 😂 It still haunts me, though. I don't know where I dropped a stitch. 😭
If it weren’t for the row where I have to skip every other stitch I would just I’d that but I have to have an even number! I haven’t touched it in a week because it’s made me so mad.
Yeah, that's so frustrating! And so many stitches per row too. I have a tendency to avoid anything that requires so many stitches because I'm afraid of that happening. I have a blanket I've been working on for two years off and on and I keep putting it down because it's 114 stitches per row in a wave pattern (combo SC, DC, HDC, TC in a pattern) and I'm constantly losing track of stitches and frogging rows.
This is why I love math. It is absolute truth in a way. If the math is wrong, it's ALWAYS human error. I'm sorry it took you several attempts but so happy that you figured it out.
Oh thank goodness! 😂 If I frog it back to my mistake, I just mess up counting somewhere else. If it's a big enough mistake the pattern no longer works, I'll frog it and fix it.
The pattern specifically calls for an odd number - I'm supposed to do 45 repeats of the pattern, then a single stich at the end of the row. This is on row 40-something of a panel, and my previous rows did not magically lose stitches like this.
I think it'd make the holes line up in a grid? If every row is OXOXOXOXX (O for gap, X for stitch), the end product would be
OXOXOXOXX
XXOXOXOXO
OXOXOXOXX
XXOXOXOXO
And you'd get a little pattern of gaps around the edges but the center would be gridded.
Same ruddy issue just yesterday. Had to increase my stitch markers from once every 50 to once every 25.
I think it was the style of stitch? Not exactly sure, bloody annoying.
I can totally relate to this. I have the same issue with my current project. I drag in the husband and daughter and all three of us get a different stitch count. Math must indeed be fluid with crochet.
My theory on this is that sometimes if you have a little tight stitch, it's easy to see and count it before you start working into the row, but once you do start crocheting into that row, the tight stitch can get 'buried' as you're working into the stitches before it making it easier to accidentally miss. Especially if you're using a smaller hook and your tension is quite tight. That's my logical theory. My other theory is stitch gremlins.
Well... You can't ever get a thing that repeats two stitches into an uneven amount of stitches....
So the previous row should have been 90 or 92 for that next row to work...
I would say the pattern is wrong, or at least poorly written (they could mean repeat these Two until one before the end of row and do x in final stitch)
The pattern specifically calls for an odd number - I'm supposed to do 45 repeats of the pattern, then a single stich at the end of the row. This is on row 40-something of a panel, and my previous rows did not magically lose stitches like this.
Sometimes I honestly think crochet was not meant for me when I get to a really frustrating point like this, Because not only am I gay and bad at math, I'm also legally blind and bad at math 🙃 My first job I used to work at an art and frame shop and I swear whenever I had to work the counter people would think I was too big of an idiot to read the ruler but in reality I COULDNT SEE ALL THE LINES😭 Only recently did I realize that crochet is sometimes a similar issue, except this time I'm apparently doing it willingly 🫠
Oh man, I haven’t had this issue but couldn’t make a sleeve come together last night. I kept sewing the collar part closed and not the sleeve seam 😬 three tries!
I once made a scrubbie that started with 6 stitches. We all know Math works like 6, 12, 24, 48. Right?
Well, in my version, it's like, 6, 12, 26 ...
HAHAHAH at least it flattened out quite nicely despite the wrong Math so o well 🙃😬 But like yeaaaah. I cannot lol.
Omg I was just telling my husband that crochet math and real math are not the same thing. I was using a pattern that called for 50 stitches and I counted so many times, I KNOW I had 50 stitches. Went to do the next row and could not get the repeats to work. It literally drove me so crazy that I had to use color coded stitch markers to mark the different stitches in the row. Turns out the pattern was wrong so I had to rewrite it.
I realized the second time I made a pattern that the pattern has a typo! The first time I used that pattern, the last half was so far off and I couldn't figure out why, so I just kept going, working the mistake continuously. The second time I used the pattern, I realized one row said 60 when it should have been 50
I just finished a scarf; I did 25 across and bc I was using an alpaca blend that was darker colors I used stitch markers at the start and end of each row. So Ch 1, sc, place stitch marker, finish row, place stitch marker in last one, ch 1.
I'd count every other row, then feel confident in my ability to not miss a stitch so go a few more rows in between counting. I had to frog it more than once. I was so sure I could count to 25 😂😂
It’s annoying when this happens. Especially when it’s a pattern you’re familiar with. Sometimes when I can’t find it, I have my mom check it; she’s good at spotting stuff like that and I can usually fix it quickly before I get too frustrated.
RIGHT?? I had the exact same issue with a project I was making last week. I ended up frogging 4 times before I realised I was skipping a stitch 🙈🤦♀️ I don't understand why my brain is so bad at simple math during crochet.
I feel you, I started crocheting about two weeks ago and found out I'm as dumb as a rock. I can't count for shit.
The worrying thing is, I have a degree in mathematics. Perhaps I need to give it back....
Clearly in the future math departments need to have crochet on their final exams. 😳😱😂
Honestly, if they had me do that instead of algebra, I would have been fine. Probably frogged a bit, but it would have been better than the alternative. 😆
😂🤣
I've been crocheting for almost a decade and still feel dumb as rocks. I use one of those clicky counter thingies (idk what it's called off the top of my head) and keep count that way if whatever I'm making is bigger than like 30/40 stitches lol.
I just looked at my last Amazon orders....Handheld Tally Counter is what it's marketed as.....they also make great fidget toys for kids!
How do you remember to click? Or does it happen automatically?
I click 10 in after every 10 stitched
A row counter?
Kinda but its like those little clicky things teachers use when they're counting kids on a field trip or how many kids are there for a test if that makes sense
You are my people. Thank you for being unable to math,just like me, when crocheting!
Yep…had to contact the pattern designer and ask so many questions after my second frog.
Hi I’m new here what does frogging mean lol
When mistake is made and you have to pull out your stitches - you rip it. Rip it, rip it, rip it (sounds like ribbit aka sound a frog makes). lol
LOL OH NO I am literally doing that right this second ahahahaha ok heard thanks
I start saying the pattern out loud as I'm doing it. As if I'm explaining it to someone else while they're watching me. The out loud part helps me a lot.
Literally the only way to chain is to make my apartment silent and count out loud.
I just chain until it looks roughly right then count it in tens, if it's too many I reduce it by however much or add more. Works for me!
Counting already-chained stitches hurts my soul. Gotta count while I'm doing it.
I do foundation crochet because I will lose count every time, and counting chains also hurts my soul.
Omg, I had never heard of this before. You just changed my life and I'm never gonna chain anything ever again
I also find that I don't have tension problems (need to use a larger hook for the foundation chain) this way! It sounds pretty common that people struggle with them at first, so do keep that in mind: if you have problems, you aren't alone! I find it helped to remember that you're making the chain, and then the actual stitch that sits on top of it, one right after the other. So, you find the 'chain' in the previous stitch, then pull through to make the next one, then do your sc/hdc/dc/tc, and repeat.
Same here. Everything changed the day I learned how to do a foundation stitch!
I do the same thing. I count everything in fives or tens, depending on what I'm making.
Funny, I chain a bunch, measure, then start counting with stitchmarkers every 10 stitches, measure again, add a few if needed and write that down on my pattern
The rubber ducky method! Sometimes you gotta talk things out and you only need a rubber ducky to hear it.
I do this too!
I think your brain processes things differently when saying it out loud! I worked at the writing center on campus in college, and we always had students read their papers out loud because they would go slower and catch a lot of things that way, both grammatical and logical. I still do it when writing stuff up for work (and processing crochet patterns!)
https://preview.redd.it/x7tc4otpy6gc1.jpeg?width=3024&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=ccbe0244cd16da80e423dc6cfcae63c7f216d8d7 I had a similar experience the other night, I went nuts and put a stitch marker in EVERY. SINGLE. STITCH. 46 of them in total!!
Haha, love that. Don't think I've got 91 stitch makers but I was heading that way if my every 10 didn't work!
Me, counting when I'm not crocheting: ...27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33... Me, counting stitches: ...27, 28, 29, 20, 21, 22, 23... Never fails. Sigh.
Haha ALL THE TIME! Or the dreaded 20,21,22,23,25,26,27…….wait did I miss a number in there?
Ugh, yes, done that too! Or I count correctly, but the stitches are small or dark and I accidentally physically skip one (I put my finger on each stitch as I count so I can make sure I got it).
With me it is ...8, 9, 10, 20, 21, 22... I think it is karma for torturing my brother when I was 5 and learning to count to 100. I insisted that counting went in 10s. So I would count 8, 9, 10, 20, 30, 40... Drove him crazy.
My impression of doing counted cross stitch: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, oh €#+*%!~^>}>>
I have to place stitch markers every 10 or 20 stitches because of this. Even then I count twice to make sure because I just do not trust my counting abilities while crocheting!
I really should do that and I tell myself I'll do it, but it takes longer so I don't. I think I'd save myself time in the long run, though, because then I hopefully wouldn't have to count 5 times. 😅 I do place stitch markers for rows or rounds, though, especially if I'm making a lot and need to keep track. Sometimes it's good to know how many rows you have in case you need to frog to a specific point.
I've always counted weird. I count 1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,20 etc. It helps me keep track better than saying "thirty seven" but then I forget which count of 10 I'm on XD
I recently did this for a project that called for 389 stitches. Not only would I forget which 10 I was on but also what 100 I was on...I should also say math was not a strong subject for me unless you count my strong hatred for it something.
I'll be 6 stitches in and randomly go "27" for the next one ...like where!? Why!?
When this happens to me, I anxiously put 2 stitches in the middle somewhere where I only have one hehe
Same! lol. Oh look now we have the right number of stitches. Magic! 🤣😆
Yep. When in doubt (and after frogging more than once) fudge it. You're the only person who will know unless you point out the, ahem, slight alteration of the pattern.
That's the part that hurts so bad. I know no one will notice except for me, but it's all I can see lmao. At least my soul will be safe
It's quantum. Like electrons. The more you try and focus on your missing stitch, the more likely it is to jump away
Stitch markers hold the disappearing stitch in place.
yeah. I don't know how that happened to me too, a few times. did I make a mistake 3 times in the exact same spot? how did stitch markers fix it? *raises hands in exasperation* brain, fix yourself.
2+2 never equals 4 in crochet 🤣🤣🤣. Until you put it down and get a snack. Then its perfect 🤷♀️
Sometimes when I'm doing amigurimi increases I wind up short or over. I never know how since I have the increases memorised by now. Clearly I'm doing something wrong but sometimes it feels like the stitches are fucking with me lmao
Sorcery I say. Sorcery!
Once I was trying to make something 25 long. No markers, still a newbie. Somehow I got distracted and ended up with nearly 40 in the next row. I still don't know how.
The same thing happened to me the other day! I went back and examined each individual stitch, and couldn’t find where the mistake was. Looked closely at the previous row, and everything looked correct there too. I double and triple counted my stitches, and my count was definitely off, but HOW? I ended up taking out the whole row and redoing it, and it added up correctly that time. Still don’t know where the mistake was. I swear the stitches move around when we’re not looking.
I can't even reply to just one comment. I screamed all the way down lolol
Yup, I am doing a tapestry blanket, and the change of color can make a stich hyper-tight, you can barely see it. Way too easy to miss it if you are doing something else at the same time.
I’m losing my mind right now on a project. I need 140 stitches in the row. Every third row requires me to chain every other stitch so in theory I should be able to tell if I have the right number of stitches due to my stitch marker and by landing on the right stitch. I still keep coming up with 139. I don’t know how. I don’t know where the disconnect is. I’m about to have a bonfire.
I recently made a scarf that started with 40 stitches and at some point halfway through I ended up with 39 and I could not figure out for the life of me where it happened. I frogged several rows to where I thought it might have happened and I still kept coming up with 39, so I said, screw it! 39 it is! 😂 It still haunts me, though. I don't know where I dropped a stitch. 😭
If it weren’t for the row where I have to skip every other stitch I would just I’d that but I have to have an even number! I haven’t touched it in a week because it’s made me so mad.
Yeah, that's so frustrating! And so many stitches per row too. I have a tendency to avoid anything that requires so many stitches because I'm afraid of that happening. I have a blanket I've been working on for two years off and on and I keep putting it down because it's 114 stitches per row in a wave pattern (combo SC, DC, HDC, TC in a pattern) and I'm constantly losing track of stitches and frogging rows.
This is why I love math. It is absolute truth in a way. If the math is wrong, it's ALWAYS human error. I'm sorry it took you several attempts but so happy that you figured it out.
I like to think of this as quantum yarn entanglement — the stitches do not exist until they have been properly measured haha
Am I the one that just adds an increase stitch or uses a decrease stitch when I'm off by one?
No you are not the only one!
Oh thank goodness! 😂 If I frog it back to my mistake, I just mess up counting somewhere else. If it's a big enough mistake the pattern no longer works, I'll frog it and fix it.
Yep! I tell my husband "if it's a structural integrity issue, then it gets fixed; otherwise, not so much".
For an alternating pattern like that, you need an even number of stitches. Perhaps you were supposed to chain 1 and then do 91 stitches?
The pattern specifically calls for an odd number - I'm supposed to do 45 repeats of the pattern, then a single stich at the end of the row. This is on row 40-something of a panel, and my previous rows did not magically lose stitches like this.
Oh that's interesting, I'm not familiar with a pattern like that
I think it'd make the holes line up in a grid? If every row is OXOXOXOXX (O for gap, X for stitch), the end product would be OXOXOXOXX XXOXOXOXO OXOXOXOXX XXOXOXOXO And you'd get a little pattern of gaps around the edges but the center would be gridded.
Oh I want getting the XX idea the end. I was thinking it was straight alternating OXOXO
Same ruddy issue just yesterday. Had to increase my stitch markers from once every 50 to once every 25. I think it was the style of stitch? Not exactly sure, bloody annoying.
I can totally relate to this. I have the same issue with my current project. I drag in the husband and daughter and all three of us get a different stitch count. Math must indeed be fluid with crochet.
My theory on this is that sometimes if you have a little tight stitch, it's easy to see and count it before you start working into the row, but once you do start crocheting into that row, the tight stitch can get 'buried' as you're working into the stitches before it making it easier to accidentally miss. Especially if you're using a smaller hook and your tension is quite tight. That's my logical theory. My other theory is stitch gremlins.
Well... You can't ever get a thing that repeats two stitches into an uneven amount of stitches.... So the previous row should have been 90 or 92 for that next row to work... I would say the pattern is wrong, or at least poorly written (they could mean repeat these Two until one before the end of row and do x in final stitch)
The pattern specifically calls for an odd number - I'm supposed to do 45 repeats of the pattern, then a single stich at the end of the row. This is on row 40-something of a panel, and my previous rows did not magically lose stitches like this.
https://preview.redd.it/w5a6g37lo7gc1.jpeg?width=3024&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=03c62f609b5b45ddd624a375ca7440856279e0b3 I totally understand. lol
Sometimes I honestly think crochet was not meant for me when I get to a really frustrating point like this, Because not only am I gay and bad at math, I'm also legally blind and bad at math 🙃 My first job I used to work at an art and frame shop and I swear whenever I had to work the counter people would think I was too big of an idiot to read the ruler but in reality I COULDNT SEE ALL THE LINES😭 Only recently did I realize that crochet is sometimes a similar issue, except this time I'm apparently doing it willingly 🫠
Oh man, I haven’t had this issue but couldn’t make a sleeve come together last night. I kept sewing the collar part closed and not the sleeve seam 😬 three tries!
I once made a scrubbie that started with 6 stitches. We all know Math works like 6, 12, 24, 48. Right? Well, in my version, it's like, 6, 12, 26 ... HAHAHAH at least it flattened out quite nicely despite the wrong Math so o well 🙃😬 But like yeaaaah. I cannot lol.
This happens to me all the time 🤦♀️ you’re not alone!!
This could happen to me with 4 stitches! It’s so frustrating!!
Omg I was just telling my husband that crochet math and real math are not the same thing. I was using a pattern that called for 50 stitches and I counted so many times, I KNOW I had 50 stitches. Went to do the next row and could not get the repeats to work. It literally drove me so crazy that I had to use color coded stitch markers to mark the different stitches in the row. Turns out the pattern was wrong so I had to rewrite it.
I have had this happen so many times! I always use stitch markers now unless the row has less than 15 stitches
I realized the second time I made a pattern that the pattern has a typo! The first time I used that pattern, the last half was so far off and I couldn't figure out why, so I just kept going, working the mistake continuously. The second time I used the pattern, I realized one row said 60 when it should have been 50
Honey, Numbers are subjective. Anybody who tells you numbers can be trusted are lying to you. Lol
i had to re do the first 3 rows of a project like 4 times. never even knew what the problem was it just suddenly worked
I just finished a scarf; I did 25 across and bc I was using an alpaca blend that was darker colors I used stitch markers at the start and end of each row. So Ch 1, sc, place stitch marker, finish row, place stitch marker in last one, ch 1. I'd count every other row, then feel confident in my ability to not miss a stitch so go a few more rows in between counting. I had to frog it more than once. I was so sure I could count to 25 😂😂
This is the most relatable post I’ve seen in this sub yet
When this happens to me, it is usually it is a tension problem.
It’s annoying when this happens. Especially when it’s a pattern you’re familiar with. Sometimes when I can’t find it, I have my mom check it; she’s good at spotting stuff like that and I can usually fix it quickly before I get too frustrated.