Learning From A Project Is Oh So Satisfying!

It took me a very long time to get to the place where I could post about this amazing, magical project.  I finished the knitting but I couldn't make myself get Marilynn (my steamer) out to finish.  I started and stopped.  I stopped and started.  I started again.  Pinning this wondrous treasure on to the blocking matt was just too intricate.  Now it's done and I can proceed.

I found this gorgeous shawl in my knitting basket at the Coastal Condo when Dick and I were there in October.  I'd forgotten all about it.  Let me introduce you to Prism's Eccentric Chevron in Lt Autumn.

I fell in love with the picture online and had to have it.  I started it casting on 478 stitches.  Remember that number as it was very important in my learnings from this project.  I decided it would be my official condo knitting, thinking it would be great to have something special waiting for me in Sunset Beach.  About half way through our stay in October, I realized if I continued knitting Double Fun, I would finish it before our trip home.  I can't think of anything more anxiety producing than being stuck in a car with no knitting.  The thought send chills up my spine!  I started poking around and found Eccentric Chevron.  I immediately hopped on board the Chevron train.  One night I was watching TV and knitting (really, the only way I can watch TV), when I discovered something that stopped my heart.

Move your eyes down to the purple just below and 2 stitches to the left of the stitch marker.  Imagine you see a dropped stitch!!!!  EEEEEKKKK!  That is exactly what I saw.  Maybe there is danger in knitting and watching TV.  Now remember, there are 478 stitches in a row.  My only choice seemed to be tinking (unknitting one stitch at a time), particularly with the unusual (or should I say eccentric) chevron pattern.  I took a deep breath and put Eccentric Chevron back in my basket and began thinking through other possible options.  In a burst of genius (I may be over stating just a bit), I decided to to unravel three stitches back to the dropped stitch.  When I got there I spent quite a while reading my knitting.  What exactly had happened?  How did that stitch get dropped?  I discovered I had missed a stitch when I K2T.  I had knit 1 stitch and dropped 1 stitch.  I got out my crochet hook and accomplished a K2T then used the hook to run the stitches back up in pattern.  It was a brave and scary thing I did.

In about 45 minutes, I fixed my problem rather than tinking back and reknitting which might have taken days and much swearing and maybe a brief period of giving up and MUCH frustration.  

LEARNING #1:  It is very important to learn to read your knitting.  You know what a knit stitch and a purl stitch look like but you really need to go a little deeper.  How does K2T look different than SSK?  What does it mean if you have one stitch too few or too many and can you figure out why?  Sometimes I'll take a piece of knitting and read what I see out loud to see if it matches the pattern. I know.  To quote my friend Thea, "I'm just a little wonky." 

Here Eccentric Chevron is finished.  Isn't it Spectacular?!?!?!  I don't know if you notice something different from the original pattern.

The original pattern was a shawl but mine is a scarf.  I think it had something to do with 478 stitches in each row.  I just decided I was done. I rationalized by saying it would be more useable as a scarf than a shawl. 

​LEARNING #2:  When you are knitting the length of the scarf rather than the width, you can stop whenever you want.  Nobody will know it's not the right width.  

LEARNING #3:  Once you put your treasure on nobody will know that wasn't what it was supposed to look like.

A project is never really finished until Lydia models it.  Everything looks great on Lydia.  As I was finishing, I realized who this wanted to go home with for Christmas.  I've learned not to make the announcement too early because sometimes it spoils the surprise if that someone reads Knitting: A Love Story.