Will I Ever Learn?

I'm pretty picky when it comes to my knitting. I just can't see investing all that time and effort into a project that I'm not going to love once it is completed. But, when I see that a project isn't working quite like I want, I tend to ignore that inner voice that is telling me that the project will not turn out.

After the Slip Stitch/Reverse Pinwheel Baby Blanket fiasco, one might think that I should have learned my lesson. I could save so much time (and heartache) if I would simply accept that if a project is not turning out how I would like, that I should simply rip it out and start over.

But no, I suffer from "let's just knit a few more rows and see how I like it," I see that my project isn't going right, but I'll invest more time into it to see if it magically improves. The more time I invest in the project, the more I decide to keep knitting on it to see if things improve, and the cycle continues. And yesterday, I did it again.

I cast on for a new project (ignoring the ones I have on the needles, actually finishing some projects might be a good New Year's goal for me), Encompass, a circle scarf designed by the Yarn Harlot. I decided to use a thinner yarn than the pattern called for, but made no other major changes. After finishing casting on, I looked at the stitches and my inner voice chimed in, "that's not going to be long enough, cast on another set of forty stitches." But, instead of heeding that inner voice, I decided to "knit a couple of rows to see how I like it."

So, I knit about ten rows and stopped to take a look and inner voice spoke up again, "It's too short, rip it out and cast on more stitches, like I told you before." And still, I decided, "Nah, I'll finish the first pattern repeat and see how I like it, its only seven more rows."

Seven rows later, I stopped and looked at the scarf, and inner voice said, "Well, look at that, it isn't getting any longer, RIP IT OUT AND START OVER!" At this point, it was getting late, so I figured I'd decide what to do in the morning (note: usually, late at night, taking a break from a project and getting some sleep would be a good idea, but I was iffy about this project from this morning on).

This morning, I picked up the project again. It had not magically grown overnight and was still to short. But what did I decide to do? Just knit a few more rows and see it I like it better. About three rows in, my inner voice was screaming at me, "START OVER, DUMBASS, START OVER!" I looked at the scarf, which I still felt was too short and decided to rib it out and cast on forty more stitches.

Seriously, I could have saved almost a full day's worth of knitting and had a much more productive inner dialog if I would have just listened to the inner voice right away. I should know by now, inner voice will prevail, if not today, tomorrow, and if not tomorrow, some day down the road, but it will prevail, the project will be frogged, and the sooner I accept that, the better.

Keeping Hands Warm

Between stitches on the various versions of the baby blankets that I've been working on, I have also completed a new pair of warm winter mittens. 

I chose the Jack-in-the-Box mittens from Knitting New Mittens and Gloves. The mittens have an normal top and an interior cuff. This allows you to have access to your fingers for things like unlocking the door, punching in the code on the garage door, and other tasks where you need some level of dexterity.

The bright pink button is to keep the top flap closed. I dug through my button box to find them. I had some super cute sheep buttons, that I was going to use, but they were a little big and I wanted to be able to button and unbutton with ease. Plus, I think it adds a nice splash of brightness to the mittens. I added some length to the cuffs, but otherwise knitted the pattern as written. 

The mittens were knit with Malabrigo Worsted yarn, a super soft, hand dyed merino wool. It is one of my favorite yarns to work with. The colorway is SFO Sky, a blend of whites, grays, and blacks. A little dreary perhaps, but a good universal, go with everything color that goes with my green winter coat and my red fleece coat.

The mittens have now been tested, in a very snowy Wisconsin December and have proven themselves to be cozy and warm while doing everything from driving to work to making snowballs. 

You Say Perfectionist Like It's a Bad Thing...

My needles have been clicking away on the Slip Stitch Baby Blanket, I was determined to get it finished in time for Christmas. Finally, I finished the slip stitch middle, and finished the top garter stitch border. I wasn't thrilled with the results, but I thought it might get better once the side borders were added. I started on the side border, *picked up the stitches, and knit a few rows. And I still didn't like it, so I ripped out the side border and tried again, and repeated from the * three more times. After being unhappy with the fourth side border, I came to a conclusion. I didn't like how this blanket turned out. 

The sensible part of me said, "Just finish it anyway, it's not for you, and there's a good chance you'll never see it again after it is given." 

Then that other, perfectionist voice spoke up, "You're going to set this knitting project loose on the world. If you don't like it, how can you expect the recipient to like it and want to use it."

The two voices continued to argue on:

"But you're almost finished with it."

"But it looks bad, and people will know that you made it."

"But it's almost finished."

"But it's ugly."

And on and on. Now, knowing myself as I do, it became clear that perfectionist voice was not going to shut up about it being a sub par project. And while sensible voice would whine about the extra work, and the probability that it wouldn't be finished in time for Christmas (admittedly not a big deal, seeing as the baby is not due until February). Eventually, I would rip out this blanket and make another one. 

Which I did. And surprisingly got it done in plenty of time (by which I mean a couple of days) for Christmas.                                                                                                                                                                                                                          

 Meet the Reverse Pinwheel Baby Blanket. I've done several circular blankets before, starting with about five stitches and increasing outward until you reach the desired size. But this one is done the opposite way, you cast on a bunch of stitches and decrease down to the middle.  In theory, less annoying, because every couple of rounds, you have less stitches instead of more. However, you don't have the same amount of control over the finished size. 
Admittedly, I would have liked it to be a little bit bigger, but 30 inches in diameter is a pretty good size for a baby blanket.


The pattern originally called for stockinette stitch, but I switched to garter. This yarn, Shine Sport by Knit Picks, knits into such a soft, smooshy fabric in garter stitch, that is perfect for a baby blanket. And, of course, the yarn can be machine washed and dried, which is good for anything made for small children.


My perfectionist voice managed to turn a so-so blanket into a better blanket.