Lessons Learned
Last night at about 5:00 the Dunella scarf looked like this:
It was perfect. Of course it was just a cable cast-on and a couple rows of garter stitch, but I was off to an awesome start!!
Then disaster.
I chose to work some more on it later in the evening. For some reason, I thought that I could watch a video at the same time. Oops!!
What happened, you might ask? Well - I blame my brain. It switched modes on me midway through row 4 or 5. I went from task mode to default mode. I lost focus and therefore lost track of the counting. I couldn't really tell where I was. I might have panicked a little. Then, when I was fussing with it, the left needle slipped out and some of the YOs went all over the place. I thought I could recover - but after working a couple more rows I was back on track with stitch count but the motif was all messed up. It was going to drive me crazy. So I ripped the whole thing out and am starting over.
Even as a single ply, this yarn is very assertive. It's sticky, so it doesn't unravel easily (although YOs certainly disappear in a flash!). But it's also very sensitive - fussing too much over one section can fuzz it out a bit. Another reason why I'm starting over, versus attempting further repairs (which would probably fail anyway!).
I'm going to be optimistic about this experience by pretending that I've just ripped back to my latest lifeline and am glad to have only a few rows to re-work. So a larger disaster was averted. This is part of the plan. And I'll be so much happier with the final product (if I ever get there, LOL!).
Finally - May Hat has proved to me that I have indeed been executing the crochet chain provisional cast-on backwards all these years. It unraveled nicely all the way back for the double-thick brim. I don't recall previously reading or hearing the part about starting the cast-on at the END of the crochet chain, but evidently that's the trick! (At some point I'll start all those cables, but not quite yet!)
In other knitting news - SRS #2 and baby mitts have become relief knitting (and safe havens where videos can be watched!).
It was perfect. Of course it was just a cable cast-on and a couple rows of garter stitch, but I was off to an awesome start!!
Then disaster.
I chose to work some more on it later in the evening. For some reason, I thought that I could watch a video at the same time. Oops!!
What happened, you might ask? Well - I blame my brain. It switched modes on me midway through row 4 or 5. I went from task mode to default mode. I lost focus and therefore lost track of the counting. I couldn't really tell where I was. I might have panicked a little. Then, when I was fussing with it, the left needle slipped out and some of the YOs went all over the place. I thought I could recover - but after working a couple more rows I was back on track with stitch count but the motif was all messed up. It was going to drive me crazy. So I ripped the whole thing out and am starting over.
Even as a single ply, this yarn is very assertive. It's sticky, so it doesn't unravel easily (although YOs certainly disappear in a flash!). But it's also very sensitive - fussing too much over one section can fuzz it out a bit. Another reason why I'm starting over, versus attempting further repairs (which would probably fail anyway!).
I'm going to be optimistic about this experience by pretending that I've just ripped back to my latest lifeline and am glad to have only a few rows to re-work. So a larger disaster was averted. This is part of the plan. And I'll be so much happier with the final product (if I ever get there, LOL!).
Finally - May Hat has proved to me that I have indeed been executing the crochet chain provisional cast-on backwards all these years. It unraveled nicely all the way back for the double-thick brim. I don't recall previously reading or hearing the part about starting the cast-on at the END of the crochet chain, but evidently that's the trick! (At some point I'll start all those cables, but not quite yet!)
In other knitting news - SRS #2 and baby mitts have become relief knitting (and safe havens where videos can be watched!).
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