I learned an important lesson this weekend – all things are possible if you actually *read* the instructions.
On attempt # 2 when I ran out of stitches before I ran out of pattern – that was because I didn’t *read* the directions – I glanced at them, assumed I knew what I was doing, and quickly screwed it up!
So with this latest – and actually successful try – I stopped when I got to the cables, studied attempt #1 (which I did keep – like I said I would), read, read, and re-read the directions and what do you know. It worked. Like a charm. Or really, it worked like the directions said it would!
So – lessons from this:
- Judy B is a goofball.
- Judy B has problem taking direction when she thinks she knows it all (this was demonstrated in school as well).
- Judy B is a goofball.
Also – this pattern is not for the social knitter. You cannot carry on a conversation while doing this thing, the stitches change to frequently. In fact you can’t even watch TV if you think you might actually be interested in what’s on or you will lose your place. There is actually a couple of carefully hidden mistakes in this piece – made because I thought I had messed it up (while watching Earth 2100) and in trying to fix the mistake-that-wasn’t, I messed up. Lukily I fixed it, somehow. I think the Knitting Fairy was looking after me – she knows projects don’t make it past the 3rd attempt. (You can read about Attempt #1 here and here).
This project also breaks the cardinal rule of knitting – you must pull tight, tight, tight to keep those bobbles from looking absolutely ridiculous (I think 99% of knitters have to learn to loosen up – and then there’s this pattern!).
So here it is in all it’s glory – Paula D liked it so much she asked about borrowing the pattern… forgetting completely that I was borrowing it from her! Keep your fingers crossed that I can keep this thing together for another 30 inches…
Dang it! Dang it! Dang it!
2nd attempt and somehow I ran out of stitches before I ran out of pattern! How does that happen! And I’d done that row right on the burgundy version so I know it’s not the pattern. This screw up is all me, baby!
Dang it! Dang it! Dang it!
I finished the adult version of the Bernat Ruffled Baby Hat – you can find the baby version here. Not too happy with it but it does have promise. The shaping just needs some tweaking I think (either that or I should have just made it smaller around and longer – heck if I know right now). It just sits on your head like a bowl (or at least it sits on MY head like a bowl).
The Sulka 60% Merino/20% Alpaca/20% Silk from Mirasol in the Snow White colorway knits up beautifully however! It makes me want more!
Apparently there is a correlation between knitting and that saying about the forest and the trees…
Remember how I mysteriously put my cables on the back of my Pasa Doble shaw? Well I took my knitting and the pattern to the wonderful folks at Knit Wits in Evansville, Indiana (a-not-so-local-yarn-store) and begged for help. The lovely lady (I believe her name was Chris – but I could be wrong because I’m horrible with names) dutifully checked for errata online, read and re-read the pattern and carefully examined my knitting. After about 20 minutes of these she turned to me and said… the cables are fine! It’s the bobbles that are on the wrong side… and she promptly pushed the back through to the other side.
DOH! DOH! DOOOOOH!
That’s what I get for not paying attention to the whole Right Side/Wrong Side bits of the pattern. In theory I shouldn’t have to redo what I’d already done but some of the stitches on the bobbles loosened up on their journey to the other side and they kinda stick out now. So I’m going to tie off this bit of folly and start again. I may even frame it as a reminder that it’s good to get excited by a pattern but don’t get so excited that you lose your common sense – geez!
By the way – Cindy M and Paula D thought it was hilarious… or maybe they were just laughing at all my irritated expressions when I told them about it….
I started the Pasa Doble Shaw/Wrap pattern from the Deco pattern book by Louisa Harding this weekend. For some reason knitting that little baby hat over the Thanksgiving holiday has given me insane confidence in my knitting skills and this wrap pattern is a doozy.
Two words people – Bobbles and Cables.
I have lost my mind.
Actually it went really, really well… until I got to the cables… and somehow managed to put them on the back of the work. How does that happen? But the rest of stitches came out great (if you don’t look at the pattern and see the first set of Bobbles-that-aren’t – they’re more like a bump in the fabric. But that’s what you get when you only watch half of the how-to video on You Tube). I was using Berroco Comfort yarn 50% Nylon/50% Acrylic in color #9742 (burgundy).
And here’s the cables on the back of the work… 
I guess it’s back to You Tube for more videos!