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So what do you do when you make a mistake, you can't figure out the mistake and it is such a mistake where you would have to think about altering the whole pattern the best you can? I was almost 3/4 of the way through the first page on a HAED design when I realized that my counting was off, buy about 6 stitches working r-l. I am doing tent stitches on 28 ct even weave, first time using all of this, so I am pretty sure it was a gradual mistake, a stitch here another there and in the end...well I couldnt handle it. I stopped, made a grid on a piece of fabric and restarted working l-r like I usually do. I dont know why I started r-l the first time. I am still trying the tent stitch on the 28ct evenweave, paying even more careful attention, I did make a small stitch mistake, but I caught it in time and altered my stitches and was back to normal in a flash.
But what do you do when you make a mistake like this. I know that if I had left it and went back to it later I would have been just as frustrated, its been 4 days since I re-started and it still bugs me (even though I am farther now stitch wise than I was on the original when I stopped). So starting over was my only option, but I cant imagine if this had happened farther along. I probablly would have cried.

If I can keep working with the mistake, I'm okay with that. If the mistake is something I can't work around or will be noticeable, I try to frog it. If it's too big to frog, or if I can figure out how to stitch around the mistake so it still looks good, I start over. That happened to me recently with Puppy Love. I had miscounted in two directions and it would have taken way to long to straighten it out, so I ordered a new piece of fabby and started anew.

I walk away for a few days (or months lol). Do something else. Come back with a fresh mind and fresh working chart - mark off squares of ten checked and correct until the mistake comes out.