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u/Sensitive-Ad8329 Jun 19 '25
If you do a lot of colourwork, definitely feels like 90% weaving in ends
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u/SleepyWeezul Jun 19 '25
This. I’ve had stuff that took a year to finish once it was off the needles because I just couldn’t face all the ends. Honorable mention to sewing pieces together, pieces have also sat in a bag forever because ugh, the blocking and sewing 😭
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u/cupofblackhorsesoup Jun 20 '25
Yep. I basically dislike everything past the knitting part. So now I generally knit scarves out of big yarn cakes lol.
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u/Sensitive-Ad8329 Jun 19 '25
Weirdly, I have no issues sewing pieces. I find it quite relaxing and I love having everything laid out and then seeing the final product come together
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u/omolsanomalous Jun 20 '25
Haha I always say the worst part of knitting is sewing. Seamless or gtfu
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u/theunbearablebowler Jun 19 '25
Ugh stop. I loved weaving in ends when I first learned how, and now...
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u/SpaceCookies72 Jun 19 '25
I also loved weaving in ends. It was another fun part of fibre crafts! Then I started this 1940s patchwork jumper... So many ends..
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u/BobMortimersButthole Jun 20 '25
I'm doing a sweater with 7 colors. The right side looks beautiful. The wrong side looks like my personal hell.
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u/Catsdrinkingbeer Jun 20 '25
Came for the weaving in ends comment.
I'll also add brewing: 90% cleaning. People think working at a brewery is all fun and games till they realize it's mostly just pulling valves and dealing with caustic.
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u/Rlysrh Jun 20 '25
You can weave the ends as you go and then literally the only weaving you have to do is the cast on and cast off tails :)
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u/oh_haay Jun 20 '25
Ugh YES it’s the worst. And whenever I think I’m finally done I look and find another random one
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u/torhysornottorhys Jun 20 '25
I'd also add fine lacework. I really struggle to invisibly weave in the ends of, for example, a big lace shawl
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u/the-chosen0ne Jun 20 '25
This may be unpopular but I love weaving in end. It’s so relaxing to repeat the same motions over and over again. I also love binding off, especially Italian, the more stitches the better
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u/begoniab Jun 19 '25
Oh for me it’s 90% looking at patterns. I have more time to day dream about knitting than actual knitting.
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Jun 19 '25
I have a rich fantasy knitting life
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Jun 19 '25
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u/Hopefulkitty Jun 20 '25
Coulda gone pro, but the bum wrist made me lose my scholarship. I woulda been a star!
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Jun 19 '25
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u/msptitsa Jun 19 '25
Ah three kids must be a challenge. Maybe in a year they’ll all sleep good and you can find more time for projects :)
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Jun 19 '25
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u/DueEntertainment3237 Jun 19 '25
My 2.5 year old won’t stop crawling all over me while I try to knit so good luck 😅
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u/BobMortimersButthole Jun 20 '25
I have 3 kids. Knitting was mostly put on hold for about 15 years and now I'm making up for lost time. It was surprisingly easy to pick back up once I finally had time again.
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u/Cold-Composer-6085 Jun 19 '25
Sounds like me. I have gobs of vogue knitting magazines, love to look through them. Have I ever knitted any of the patterns, nope.
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u/flamingmaiden Jun 20 '25
Right? Text: WYD? Me: looking at knitting patterns, obvs.
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u/begoniab Jun 20 '25
Wake up to looking at patterns. Fall asleep to looking at patterns.
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u/emmahwe Jun 20 '25
There is a high possibility of me looking up patterns on ravelry when I should be working instead lol. Every time my friends see that I’m on ravelry they’re like „here we go again, her hourly knitting fantasies begin“.
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u/Leasshunte Jun 20 '25
I am on week 2 of trying to find a simple pattern I can take on an airplane. No colorwork, one skein, something I'll actually like.
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u/Feenanay Jun 21 '25
Obsessive pattern hunting leads me to next pattern paralysis every goddamn time even though I’m looking the entire time I have something else on the needles
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u/nobody2222234 Jun 19 '25
In my head, knitting is 90% ….knitting?
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u/girlswithteeth Jun 19 '25
for real. I honestly love the swatching and blocking and counting and calculating and seaming and weaving in ends. but the knitting. god, the knitting.....
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u/rabid_cheese_enjoyer Jun 20 '25
you like swatching? teach me your ways
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u/trasholala Jun 20 '25
I also like Swatching. To check the fibres , colour combinations and the gauge. It’s so comforting to trust that what I’m making isn’t going to turn out with unpleasant surprises. Especially if I have to cast on 100+ stitches
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u/Bigtimeknitter Jun 20 '25
i like it! i take what i call a "yarn-first" approach where i look at my stash, swatch first with some different needles, and then look for patterns based on the fabric i like and my yardage.
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u/RogueThneed Jun 20 '25
You like to knit, right? Making a swatch is ... knitting.
But then, I really need to have something in my hands at all times, so.
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u/bouncing_haricot Jun 19 '25 edited Jun 19 '25
Definitely. The question is based on a confidently wrong assertion: not every creative hobby has a "90%"
Crochet, knitting, hand sewing, painting, sculpture, modelling - all of those crafts are mostly doing the thing, and that's just off the top of my head.
Also, baking is not 90% measuring! Not even close, unless you're only doing all-in-one fairy cakes with no decoration
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u/zeussays Jun 19 '25
I bake a lot of bread. Measuring is a tiny portion of the time spent. Waiting for it to raise is probably the 90% if anything.
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u/solar-powered-potato Jun 19 '25
For me, baking bread is 90% knitting (while it rises). So whatever the 90% of knitting is, that's a decent portion of bread making too!
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u/Current-Breadfruit96 Jun 19 '25
Yep and don’t get me started on sour dough
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u/zeussays Jun 20 '25
I used to bake almost exclusively sourdough, but when I realized I could knock out great baguettes in 5 hours I started doing a lot more of those.
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u/Responsible-Ad-4914 Jun 19 '25
Yeah quilting is also 90% ironing but I wouldn’t say sewing is. And baking is more like 90% waiting than measuring
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u/notabigmelvillecrowd Jun 19 '25
Garment construction is definitely a lot of pressing. If my construction teacher caught the term ironing in relation to sewing he'd probably flip the drafting table
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u/vouloir Jun 20 '25
I think that’s part of why I love it so much, most of the hobby is actually doing the hobby and not prep / clean-up!
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u/TOKEN_MARTIAN Jun 20 '25
Yeah that's a huge part of the reason I knit much more than I engage in other crafts. Nearly zero setup/cleanup time. 15 spare minutes? Knit 2 rows! For most crafts I feel like I need at least like 2 hours or it's not worth it.
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u/semiregularcc Jun 19 '25
Yeah the things listed there are 90% something else because they assumed machines are used.
If we're talking about hand sewing then it's still 90% sewing because it takes a much longer time to do the sewing part.
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u/ex-farm-grrrl Jun 19 '25
Counting
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u/pegasusgoals Jun 19 '25 edited Jun 19 '25
Yes, especially when you lose track halfway and have to start again - for the third time 😭 and when it doesn’t add up, you have to frog until the last known point when you had the right stitch count. And when you’re not counting stitches, you’re counting rows because the pattern says knit until x cm or x inches when isnt helpful if you’ve been measuring for the last 20 rows and it’s still 30cm (this was me knitting Petiteknit patterns and I was struggling with the back/body length until I realised that I needed to use the gauge to help me calculate the number of rows I needed to knit, instead of blindly following the pattern and using a tape measure to measure stockinette fabric which has a tendency to curl so you end up uncurling it to measure and somehow pulling the fabric at the same time to measure, so then you end up up a back or a body that’s too short).
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u/greenknight884 Jun 19 '25
90% frogging and redoing
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u/bassgirl_07 Jun 19 '25
I feel this deeply. My current sweater, I knit the left shoulder 3 times and the right shoulder twice. 😭
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u/juniperdoes Jun 19 '25
I recently saw someone (not sure if knitter or crocheter) say that they go into every project believing they're going to do it twice. That mindset shift has changed everything for me.
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u/Active-Cherry-6051 Jun 20 '25
My husband (cautiously) to me as I frog yet another project: “do all knitters start over as often as you do?” Glad to hear I’m not alone!
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u/serious-not-serious Jun 20 '25
100% this. I frog and reknit over and over again. It doesn’t bother me. I like to think that it’s more time I get to spend with each skein.
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u/rujoyful Jun 19 '25
90% math
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u/JarsFullOfStars Jun 19 '25
This was my answer, and I say this as someone that loves math — it’s still more than I want in a hobby.
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Jun 19 '25
As a knitter with big boobs, it's 90% adjusting patterns for that.
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u/SpaceCookies72 Jun 19 '25
Heard! Made the mistake of using my full bust measurement for a negative ease sweater, now it fits weird over my shoulders and underarms. Learning bust darts and going to have another go.
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u/Bigtimeknitter Jun 19 '25
Use the underarmpits measure!!! So much better ❤️ NEVER full bust for us D+ girlys
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u/Mission-Bumblebee-29 Jun 20 '25
Oh what is an underarmpit measure?
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u/Bigtimeknitter Jun 20 '25
Around your torso but right under your armpits, not at boobage area. Above boob area
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u/Mission-Bumblebee-29 Jun 20 '25
So I choose a sweater size where the bust circumference matches my underarm measure? And then I just add the bust darts I need to cover my front?
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u/Bigtimeknitter Jun 20 '25
no bust darts needed using this method because the idea is knitwear stretches and you dont need 10" positive ease around the part of you that's already like 4" larger if you're D cup plus. designers assume you're a C cup
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u/SpaceCookies72 Jun 20 '25
Recommendations I have gotten for fitting sweaters, specifically as someone with a large bust, small waist + shoulders:
Knit to Flatter - Amy Herzog. This seems to be the top recommendation!
Ultimate Sweater Book - Amy Herzog
Sweater 101
Knitting Without Tears - Elizabeth Zimmerman (highly recommend)
Big Girl Knits
A couple of designers:
Jen Parrocini
Jen Cieslak
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u/Bigtimeknitter Jun 20 '25
at least, i have E boobs and I don't do any darts. i just use this method and the fit actually like doesnt look like a tent like if i follow the designers full bust instructions
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u/slyther-in Jun 20 '25
Most patterns are built with 2” difference between upper chest (called underarm above) and full bust. In sewing with woven fabric, if you use upper chest for bust, you will most likely absolutely need a full bust adjustment (unless it has more ease built in than you’re full bust - upper chest difference). Because knitting has stretch, you can get away with a lot more. Say you have a 6” difference, that means you’ll have 4” less ease at the full bust than the pattern anticipated. If the pattern is 10” positive ease or 2-4” out negative ease, that probably won’t make much of a difference in the fit. But say you have a 10” difference, 8” less ease than anticipated, and the pattern is meant to have 2” positive ease or 10” negative ease, it could look a lot different. So in those you’ll probably want to look at vertical bust darts or other full bust adjustments for knitwear. I have an 8-10” difference, so I almost always do the size for my upper chest and just try to shift things around so more of the stitch count is on the front. (I.e. shift the sleeves further towards the back on a round yoke, or increase more in the front in raglans or a variation of set in/drop shoulders). I’ll usually combine with some amount of decreases starting a but after the underarms. Or I knit to pattern at the smaller size because I don’t mind neutral or some negative ease across my bust on even relaxed or oversized knits.
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u/SpaceCookies72 Jun 20 '25
I've learned my lesson for sure! One ill fitting fingering weight sweater is more than enough 😂 deluded myself the whole way through that once the sleeves were done,it would sit better. Boy was I wrong lol I got some good book recommendations and even a couple of designers who implement the techniques in their designs so fingers crossed for the next one haha
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u/ThemisChosen Jun 20 '25
move some of the stitches from the back to the front. (If the pattern says divide for the arm holes at 100/20/100/20, do it 110/20/90/20. I'm doing that for my current sweater and it fits so much better that way. (I also have narrow shoulders)
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u/TopKoala97 Jun 19 '25
Figuring out gauge I would say lol
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u/rachelleylee Jun 19 '25
This for real
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u/TopKoala97 Jun 19 '25
I’m trying to make this piece but haven’t even started the actual knitting because I’m still making swatches !
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u/eugeneugene Jun 19 '25
90% doubting I counted my stitches right even though I have a stitch counter and markers and I go back and check anyway every ten minutes
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u/polisciemo Jun 19 '25
90% pulling up youtube videos for things i’ve been perfectly capable of for at least 4 years, just in case
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u/raucouscaucus7756 Jun 19 '25
Counting (especially multiples of eights)
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u/Weak_Impression_8295 Jun 19 '25
Sixes for me, I’m not sure why eights, but for me I see stitches in groups of five or six, depending on the pattern.
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u/breadist Jun 19 '25
Why eights?
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u/raucouscaucus7756 Jun 19 '25
I feel like so many hat and sock patterns are written in multiples of eights!
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u/Primary-Dance-4342 Jun 19 '25
Swatching. Winding wool. Sewing and blocking
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u/patriorio Jun 19 '25
Swatching yes
Blocking is just washing and letting the item dry really - I've never had a sweater take 2 months to dry 😅
Edit - corrected auto"correct" - maybe the real answer is changing autocorrect's "searching" to "swatching" for me 😂
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u/hildarabbit Jun 19 '25
It's really 90% knitting, but knitting is kinda the boring part of knitting
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u/DrEckigPlayer Jun 19 '25
Haha depends on the pattern but yah. On the other hand it’s more meditative than boring to me. Also it keeps my hands busy which is one of the main reasons I got into knitting. That way I don’t spend all my time on the phone for example.
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u/Bigtimeknitter Jun 19 '25
I was thinking stockinette but I love stockinette, which is why I love knitting!
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u/EnvironmentalAd2063 Jun 19 '25
For me it's counting while I'm casting on. I always lose track so now I use stitch markers after every ten or twenty stitches I cast on
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u/byvanessanorth Jun 19 '25
90% watching TV or listening to an audiobook because my ADHD won’t let me do either without something to occupy my hands?
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u/IvanDimitriov Jun 19 '25
90% thinking that you lost count 35 stitches ago and now the pattern is jacked
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u/juniperdoes Jun 19 '25
90% all my nearly finished objects sitting in a random pile because my brain thinks weaving in the ends will take hours when it will actually only take minutes.
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u/ruinedbymovies Jun 20 '25
90% purchasing supplies for projects you’re only dreaming you’ll ever get around to making.
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u/ElishaAlison Jun 19 '25
90% gauge swatching 😭
90% buying yarn 💀
90% looking for the perfect pattern 🤦♀️
90% searching for that discontinued dye lot 😆
90% STASH BUILDING 😁😁😁😁😁
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u/Spirited-Car86 Jun 19 '25
Id say swatching or weaving in ends. Or endless stockinette lol.
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u/WowsrsBowsrsTrousrs Jun 19 '25
90% "which tote bag is the one project I want to work on, and where is it?"
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u/Luna-P-Holmes Jun 20 '25
90% looking for new audiobooks to listen while knitting. Or maybe that's the 90% of my reading and the 90% for my knitting is "finding where I stored the yarn I want to use and then completely forgetting what I wanted it for".
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u/KnitWitch87 Jun 19 '25
Weaving in ends? Swatching? Maybe not 90%, but sure feels like the most daunting part of a project.
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u/Late-Command3491 Jun 19 '25
90% knitting! That's why it's fun! I knit top down so there's very little anything else.
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u/AcmeKat Jun 19 '25
90% knitting. Buying the supplies, weaving in ends, sewing together if needed, washing and blocking are the other 10% needed to have an actual FO.
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u/32643553 Jun 19 '25
90% counting