Unraveled Wednesday May 2023

In a rare move (because I don’t knit enough to have weekly updates, really) I am joining with Kat and the other unravelers today to talk about my current knit. And my amateur knitting skills despite these many, many years of knitting.

First: the good stuff.

I’m knitting Sarah’s Same As It Ever Was hat and it’s a terrific pattern. The cast on is brilliant and not at all fussy (I’m looking at you, Emily Ocker’s Cast On) and the increases are beautiful and truly mimic the decreases on a knit-in-the-round type project. In other words, both ends are going to match. Lovely.

The yarn is Cider Moon (a blast from the past if ever there was one) in the color Stir Fry. It’s a 100% superwash merino wool and the colors are terrific. Truthfully, Fred snagged it out of one of my yarn bins in my studio and brought it downstairs a few weeks back and I decided he had good taste and it would make a great hat.

Now: the bad stuff.

In a total newbie maneuver, I did not do a gauge swatch. I figured I could just start knitting and measure my gauge after I got a few rounds done. And that worked just fine. But me and the maths, well, we don’t always communicate clearly and my gauge is less than the pattern calls for so I went down a size and stopped increasing when I hit size 3. And off I went to my library conference where I blissfully knit through key note speeches and workshops and meetings. I thought to myself occasionally . . . this seems awfully big . . . but I ignored those thoughts and knit on.

You know where this is going, right?

On Tuesday morning I really looked at what I had on my needles and realized it was huge. I mean, Dale has a pretty big head (not that this is for him) and this would have been way too big even for his Swedish noggin. I finally did what any seasoned knitter would do . . . I unraveled back to the increases and went down to a size 2. I’m now happily knitting forward and, while I think it actually looks a wee bit small, I know it will fit . . . someone.

As for reading, I’m enjoying The Bookish Life of Nina Hill. Is it high quality literature? Nah. Is it quite entertaining and cute? Most definitely.

Happy Unraveled Wednesday, fellow knitters.

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This Post Has 7 Comments

  1. That yarn is so awesome! I love the colors… if only your gauge had not been off… sigh. I have all too often ignored that little voice telling me that this is not right, you are in good company!

    I read a book that I thought YOU would love… Return to Valetto! It’s a great story, even greater characters, and a lovely ending.

  2. Those dang maths! It’s going to be a great hat, Carole, now that you’ve made the necessary adjustments. And that yarn is so fun, I’ll bet you (almost) didn’t even mind knitting with it even MORE.
    😉

  3. I’m always a little sad when people knit with wonderful colorways that I know are no longer available, and Stir Fry is one of them! I’m going to have to try Sarah’s pattern; I love my Musselburgh but that cast on was not fun. This is going to be a great hat for some lucky person!

  4. Bonny is right – someone is going to love that hat and I wish it were me. The colors in that yarn are fabulous (and they do look like stir fry!!). Sorry you had to unravel, but glad you are back on track now!

  5. I’m sorry that your “blissful” conference knitting didn’t amount to much! That yarn looks great, though, and I’m glad you’re making progress now.

  6. Oh yay, I’m so glad you’re enjoying the pattern! Though I’m sorry about the sizing issue. On the plus side, tinking back and knitting a smaller size means fewer stitches and faster progress!

  7. I liked the Bookish Life of Nina Hill. It’s actually on my keep shelf (I cleaned one bookcase and donated 6 Target bags of books).

    I never do gauge with hats and probably should but I figure it will fit someone else.

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