knitpurldrop: Reminders to my future self

You'd think in the past 19 years of being a knitter, I would have learned more about myself as a knitter and my knitting habits.

One of my classics happened this week. Picture if you will, an orange tote bag that's been hanging on the door handle since October, all of one mitten finished except for a thumb, the other ball of yarn, waiting for hundreds of delicate little cables on tiny yarn, waiting, taunting.

I decided that this pair of mittens would work perfectly for the "accessories, knitted" contest of which entered this year for the Indiana State Fair. So there, a solid reason for their hasty removal from project hibernation, but that doesn't exactly mean anything as there's a huge difference between "I can finish this for the Fair" and "I have time to finish this for the Fair".

I sat down with my audiobook yesterday, the 4" of ribbing done. If I knitted 12 insanely cabled rows a day, that leaves me with a pair of mittens ready for the Fair, not including the time it's going to take to block (add an extra day or two for humidity). I knitted around 20 rows before I realized my mistake. (This is a classic Paige screw up). I changed the pattern for the first mitten, and I assumed I'd remember it for the second mitten because I totally wasn't going to put it away for 8 months. Naturally, I put it away, forgot, and I didn't change it for the second. It's nothing huge like the omission of a thumb or adding an extra 2 reps of something, but it's noticeable. I think that I screwed up on the first mitten and just realized it too late and kept going, but the 5 stitches that form the gusset between the front and the back are supposed to be garter stitch with 2 slipped stitches on the sides, and my first mitten is definitely stockinette.

Lesson learned (but knowing myself won't be implemented) is: if you make a change, write it down.

When I noticed the mistake I actually laughed a little. I like quirky mittens. I much prefer the garter stitch on the second one, but not enough to go rip back the first mitten. I might make this pattern again, in which case I'd make them both garter stitch edged, but for the time being, I'll accept that my mittens are fraternal twins and enjoy the process of the second mitten.

*Yes, I know that this mistake might cost me a ribbon. And right now, I just don't care. I lost a lot of respect for the judge when my beaded lace shawl was displayed inside-out and lost to a ribbed scarf last year. I'm really just going to see how my lace tablecloth does and if anything else places then it's a bonus.
**That sounded snotty. I'm not mad that my shawl didn't place, but there were loads of awesome knits (fair-isle, cabled and lace) that lost to this ribbed scarf. I worked on that shawl for over a year and this ribbed scarf was a very nice ribbed scarf, but in the end, still a ribbed scarf.

Moving on. I made it to 16 x 16 squares in my crochet afghan. I'm still aiming for 16 x 18 plus a border. I think I still have time. I hope I still have time. If I get to 16 x 18 and decide it's not big enough, it won't go to the Fair. I would rather wait a year to enter it (or not enter it at all) than be displeased with it for the rest of it's life because I was too lazy to make it 18 x 20. I didn't take a picture because it looks exactly like it did at 14 x 14, 12 x 12 and 10 x 10, just bigger.

I made a hat out of handspun. It is knitted far too tightly and is a little small. Luckily, I have a tiny head. Here it is blocking. I like it, except for the ribbing is a little loose. I might go back and in the row between the ribbing and the lace pattern, crochet a row from behind to tighten things up. But it's been drying for 4 days and is still wet- it's way too humid to be drying knits right now.

In non-knitting news, I have a guy who thinks I'm pretty cool. And I think he's pretty cool. He brings me these:

And Madeline brings me these, which is not cool at all (I think it's a corn snake. Regardless of what kind of snake it is, it is still a snake, and I jumped on the chair and screamed for a bit when she brought it to me, still alive, and very angry. I hate snakes.):