Kissing the Frog

I was really exited about making a hat for my daughter who just left for her first year of University. I got the perfect colored yarns and was going to make an earflap hat with a lining to keep her warm in the winter. I was so excited that I cast on as soon as I had the design figured out.

Everything was going great and in about a day I was half done the outside of the hat. The colors and design were working perfectly. I was doing a small stranded design of her university letters WLU going around the hat; I then planned to use duplicate stitch to put the university name on above the band. I figured since I was doing a lining I didn't have to worry about strands.

As I kept knitting away in this blissful, exciting state I had that familiar feeling in the back of my head. "This is looking big" .  Now everyone knows that when you here that little voice in the back of your head basically screaming "WARNING". you listen. And of course knowing this I chose to ignore it because I was just so blissful and excited about my progress. As I reached the decreases to close off the hat I couldn't contain my feeling of accomplishment. A pat on the back as I thought about how much my daughter would love this. Wow, isn't this going to be great. On and On I could go but I think you are all beginning to know where this is going. Perhaps because you too have gone on such a journey.

Well...although my elation was at a peak, so too was that voice in the back of my head. Finally just to prove it wrong and shut it up I stopped to really look at the hat. It was then I started to realize  that it was going to fit someone the size of "Big foot" instead of  a young lady. Just to be absolutely sure I tried it on and watched as it slid over my head, past my ears, coming to rest around my neck. There it lay looking not like a beautiful hat for my daughter but instead like a mishapen ugly cowl.    UGGGHHH

It's quite amazing that every time we choose to ignore tried and true knitting rules we are invariably visited by the voice in the back of our head. I myself had been doing many socks and shawls in which either gauge was not important or I knew the wool from previous knits. In this case I did not know what my gauge was for this wool  and should have done a swatch.  I actually tell people this in classes I teach. ALWAYS SWATCH FOR GAUGE. It is one of my most important knitting rules. Right up there along with "DON"T DO LACE AFTER 10PM.

Those rules are in place for very good reasons. They can be your friend and save you many hours of frustration. They should be adhered to. But of course, we as knitters always test those rules and every time we do we find out why they are good rules.

So, in the end knowing what the real truth was, I pulled my needle out of my stitches. A feeling very familiar to many a knitter. And then proceeded to rip out the stitches row by row till all that was left was my provisional cast on.

So you see in the end I was not the prince of this tale. I was the one kissing the "FROG" ...ripit  ripit.....ripit