I have an industry secret to reveal: Knitting editors are human. (Not aliens from The Planet Of Perfect Knitting! Imagine that.) We make mistakes while knitting just like anyone else. The difference is that sometimes our knitting mistakes end up in a high-resolution photograph, published for all the world to see. Take a close look at the cute pink hat in the photo.
Can you spot the mistake?

After you admire the sweet lacy brim, your eyes may wander up towards the crown...where you will see the whopping mistake I made about six rounds down from the top. Yeah, baby. I screwed up Big Time and did not notice it until someone handed me an 8x10 glossy of my error--too late to knit another hat, too late to take a new photo, too late for even Photoshop to save me.

Think of the photo as a reminder to read the instructions, because the instructions are correct. Follow the instructions and you will get lovely star-like decreases that behave themselves and line up properly. Follow the photo, and you will get, well, a hat that looks just like the photo, mistakes and all.

But this hat is still a cute baby knitting pattern, right?

I guess I don't mind making a mistake so much if it saves me from bigger, more horrible mistakes later on. This time, I learned never to let a photographer near my work—oh no, wait. That's not it. Let's see...Oh yes. I learned how to plan the decreases properly in lace knitting so that the decreases line up nicely.

What's the biggest knitting mistake you've ever made, and what did you learn from it? Email me and maybe I'll put some of the responses in upcoming newsletters.

Sandi Wiseheart is the founding editor of Knitting Daily.