What Not to Do Before You Have Coffee

I am making a cute little shrug for the Eldest Munchkin. Very simple raglan sweater. Loose gauge with aran yarn. I am adding sleeves. (Personally, I am not a fan of sleeveless shrugs. Though I have never worn a shrug as they would look terrible on me!)

I had finished the increases. Instead of binding off the sleeves as the pattern said, I put them on holders. All good.

Last night I discovered a whole in the back of the sweater. Not a missing stitch or anything. Have no idea what happened. It was too late to touch it without making a mess.

So I got up this morning. Feed the Little Guy. The Eldest Munchkin woke up so I got her up. DH was still sleeping. The Eldest Munchkin didn't want breakfast yet. So I figured she could hang out with LG and me in the living room. I decided to fix the hole.

I figured it would be simple enough to just drop the stitch to the row past the error. Then pick it up and move along. I realized I might also have to do that with the row next to the error to fix the problem. No biggie on simple stockinette. Or so I thought.

I did it once. Didn't look right. Watched a youtube video to confirm, yes, I did it correctly. So what was happening? Tried one more time. It looked far worse. With a sigh I resigned myself to ripping back the 6-7 rows to get past the error.

Rip, rip, rip. Back the hole. So time to get it back on the needles. Okay.

Did I forget to mention EM kept coming over asking "what are you doing?" and "can I hold that?". That being everything from the yarn to the project off the needles and in the process of being frogged to my notions holder to the Knitkit (which she wandered off with only to snap back the measuring tape causing more tears for the morning). The LG was fussing from time to time.

So it was about that time that DH woke up. He came out and EM of course says she is hungry. Much to his credit, DH scooped them up and took them out into the kitchen without complaint. Leaving me to try to sort out my knitting.

When I have ripped back, I try to put it back on the needles with a row of unknitting. Basically, I put each stitch on the needles and then pull the yarn out of the stitch so it doesn't cause a stitch to run. Works well...most of the time.

I am 3/4th of the way done with the row. Then I am struggling with one stitch. I am not sure why. Other than perhaps the lack of caffeine... I think I get it straightened out. All good. But now the yarn coming out of the side that is back on the needles. *blink* I am thinking it just must have been that last stitch. Right? Nope. Three more stitches. All in the wrong direction. *blink*

I sit there staring, trying to figure out what is happening.

Now a smarter or at least more caffeinated person than me would have put it down and walked away for some sanity. But I didn't. I tried pulling out the knitting needle only to have the cable pull out of the connector on my Knitpicks Options. *growl*

At this point I was so peeved that I just ripped out the entire thing. *sigh* Not sane. Not sensible. But it what I did.

I went out and had a nice breakfast with my wonderful family. DH listened to me complain about the knitting. He even said that perhaps I should get some knitting needles that are joined. I pointed out that the good ones cost about $10 a pop. So that wasn't gonna happen. I also said given how long I have had my Options that the fact that I have only broken about 3 cables is actually pretty good. Knitpicks is the economy version but overall they are pretty decent.

On KP, I also can't complain at all about them. I had trouble with their ball winder since day one. I finally managed to write them about it. They explained it shouldn't be functioning the way it did and immediately sent me a replacement! Given I purchased it from them at least a year ago, that was very kind of them.

So the lesson for today. No knitting repairs before coffee. Unless I really *want* an excuse to restart a project. *sigh*

Finished Object Disaster

Well, it was bound to happen sometime, right?

I screwed up the Tomten sweater. In a big way.

I kept thinking while I was doing it that the sleeves seemed kinda small. But I figured it was just I am not used to looking at baby stuff.

I was seaming the sleeves this morning and knew they just weren't right. *sigh*

The light bulb went off in my head.

I double checked the pattern.

Sure enough. The sleeves say to decrease every 4 ridges. And I thought that was every 4 rows. So it is half the length it should be. *sigh*

In theory, I could rip back the sleeves and just redo the sleeves. But that isn't the only problem with the tomten. I was learning how to do two color work (technically, intarsia, but honestly, not that complex). I didn't realize there was a specific method to follow. So I was wrapping the yarn pretty haphazardly. So I made a mess of the front of the sweater. I wasn't happy with it as it was anyhow. I kept debating just pulling it all out but couldn't bring myself to do it.

I think the sleeves are just a sign to start over. I can do a much better piece and it will be something I won't be embarrassed to give away. *sigh*

Live and learn. Live and learn.

The good news is that I have time to get it done before Xmas. It only took about a week and a couple days to finish this one. And I have vacation starting Friday. So I will be off work. That gives me even more knitting time.

I have to confess. I haven't done squat with Jennifer's xmas socks. Then again, we haven't scheduled a time when we are going down to celebrate Xmas. So I know I have until at least mid-January to get those done.

I will cast on a new Tomten sweater today. I am hoping to spend my lunch with a coworker helping her learn to knit. I have already taught her some things. Thing is, one of her kids pulled her knitting off the needles. So I need to get it back on the needles for her.

I wish I had some extra circulars to lend her. I really do agree with Kelly at Knitpicks. They are great even for learning students. I listened to the podcast 28 which was about sharing the love yesterday.

Though I disagree completely about not having people start with a project. I *hate* not feeling like I am working towards something. I would rather have it be a mess, but doing something rather than working on something only to rip it all out. I love my sampler scarf. I love that I can see my evolution in knitting in it. I like having a project rather than nothing when I am done.

I think people differ a lot in what style of learning works for them. So it is never one size fits all. *smile*

Ah well. I have to get some work done today. Especially as I am taking off Friday through the New Year! Means lots of knitting time. *grin*