Everyone makes mistakes

By Meg Dedolph

Friends, this is not looking good.

A few weeks ago, full of optimism and hope, I decided to knit my partner a sweater. We’d just gotten a new shipment of Nightshades in at the shop, and after listening to people gush about this yarn for months, I decided it was time to give it a try.

Because a sweater isn’t the kind of thing I like surprising a person with, I asked Jonathan to pick out his favorite color, which he did, and I picked out a pattern, (Herringweave, by Anne Hanson) and he liked that, so I knit a gauge swatch and I measured my husband and I cast on.

And it was going great! The yarn is a joy to knit with, the subtly textured pattern really shines, the cable keeps it fun …. I have no complaints.

The only problem is that the yarn is basically black, and our cats are basically black, and sometimes we mistake my project for a cat and start talking to it. Also sometimes the cats mistake my project for a bed, and that's also unhelpful.

I was keeping an eye on the calendar and staying on track, and then I caught a bad cold, which on the one hand, is a bad cold (seriously, this thing is a doozy. Go wash your hands. Right now.) but on the other hand, meant I needed to rest by watching Netflix and knitting. 

And today, just as the rookie detective inspector made a breakthrough in the series of murders plaguing London, I cast off the back of the sweater. I held it up, admired it, and decided to move on to the next step: knitting the front.

The pattern said, “Using the smaller needle, cast on….” and I realized with horror, that I had just cast off using a pretty small needle.

I read the pattern again. Cast on with the smaller needle, knit the ribbing, switch to the larger needle … where was my needle gauge? I measured needles, hoping against hope that I had switched to the larger needle.

I’m sure you see where this is going.

I did not switch to the US7 after the ribbing. I kept going with the smaller, US5. I mention this, because I think sometimes beginning knitters think that as you get more experienced, you make fewer mistakes. I am here as living proof that this is not the case. You make bigger mistakes on tighter deadlines instead.

So, 10 days before Christmas, I have, essentially, one sweater sleeve knit. 

Something tells me this may be a New Year’s gift. Or maybe a Martin Luther King Day gift.

(Are you in the same boat? Check out our Scarf Market - we have lots of great crocheted, knitted and woven pieces made by our customers, and the best part? The proceeds benefit a different local charity every year. Cross something off your list and help a great organization at the same time. Win-win!)