knitting

Maybe it’s just because my brain is worn out and I can no longer think straight, but I’m finding one of the most difficult parts of knitting now is casting on. Not the actual physical activity, I can handle the long-tail and knit-on methods just fine. Even the cable-cast on doesn’t have me stumped. It’ counting that seems to have me stymied.

Oh no, don’t get me wrong, I can count, I just can’t seem to do it for any length of time, or remember how far I’ve gotten after a certain number. That means that I end up having to stop recount, and count again, which takes a lot longer than it should.

I’ve tried using stitch markers to mark big groups of stitches (say every 25 or so if I have to cast on over 100). That works, but sometimes the stitch markers get in the way, especially if you’re using a lace weight yarn. And so, my dilemma. I can count, but casting on seems to daunt me more than it should.

I won’t attempt patterns that call for too many cast-ons, it’s just too daunting, and so, I’ve put off starting a totally beautiful shawl, just because I have to cast on over 300 stitches to get started. Oh, and did I mention I have to pick them all up to do the edging? No way!! If I can’t count that high when I cast on, I sure can’t count that high and pick up stitches too! Does anyone else have this problem????

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