Machine Knitting Words of Wisdom

I'm getting ready to go to bed after arguing with my machine most of the night (my machine and DAK 8 are fighting each other at the moment) so I thought I'd quickly share some of the things I've discovered that make my knitting go more smoothly.

1. Don't knit while you're distracted. Put the kids to bed or send them to Grandma's; it's impossibe to knit when you have a 2 yr old and a 3 yr old clamoring for your attention.
2. Always check your machine settings EVERY TIME you sit down to knit. If your house is like mine, occassionally little gremlins come by and push buttons and flip switches. Just because you left your ribber on half-pitch and your machine set to tuck doesn't necessarily mean they will still be that way when you sit back down. Save yourself a lot of aggravation and check your machine before you knit.
3. Don't knit when you're tired. I find I make most of my mistakes when I'm sleepy: my brain just can't seem to focus on what I'm doing.
4. Don't get in a hurry. In my experience things are way more likely to go catastrophically wrong if you're rushing to finish a project. I've had carriage jams, incorrect patterning, bent needles, dropped stitches, and occassionally had my entire project fall off into my lap, all because I was in a hurry. Take my advice: don't rush!

Now that I've blathered on and on I think I'll go to sleep. (please excuse any misspellings and gramatical errors: I am half-asleep as I'm writing this.)