Monday, December 22, 2008

Reason Prevails--Eventually

This year, Monita's gift was the troublesome one. First, I had a heck of a time figuring out what to give her. Finally, I settled on a hat, and because I developed an obsession with Ysolda Teague's designs over the course of this semester, I settled on her Gretel hat. So, no biggy, I stopped at my LYS after one hectic school day, perused the shelves for something in the appropriate weight and color (yes, this was a non-stash project), and I was off.

All the classic symptoms developed early. I read the project gague, and instead of noting how softly draping the modeled versions were and taking the time to discover that the yarns Ysolda used generally knit at tighter gagues, I just grabbed the yarn that matched the pattern gague (i.e., thicker than the prototypes). Then, my beleaguered brain thought "slouchy is in" and began to knit the slouchy. Even as I felt like the cabling might go on forever, even after trying it on and seeing what looked like the beginnings of a Rasta-style hat (not the look Monita is going for, last I checked), I kept going.

It wasn't until Friday, after graduation, that I tried the hat on and saw it as the bright red blimp it had shaped into. Note this is after I had used up the first skein of yarn and had taken out half an hour to wind a second skein and begin knitting with that. It dawned on me then that there was only one way: the frog pond.

This is what it looked like halfway ripped (note that the skein trailing off is all frogged yarn)


This is what it looked like ripped back to where you begin the crown decreases for the fitted version, the place I was at after two or three days of knitting.


Saturday was a knitting marathon, and after dinner, I was finished with a multi-week project that should've taken me about three days. Aaaaalll good.


Specs:
Pattern--Gretel. Clever, clever design.
Yarn--Malabrigo Worsted in Vermillion, under one skein
Needles--Size 7 Addi Turbos and miscellaneous size 7 dpns
Modifications--None. If you haven't already learned to do cables without a needle, do as Ysolda suggests and use Grumerina's tutorial. It is very clear, and once you've done a couple twists, it becomes intuitive. I am not an innovative knitter or one who prides herself on knowing tricks, but this is one trick I am all over.

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