In Progress

The last few days have been the start of something that I do every year. I take out my list of loved ones and the knitted goodies that I plan to make for them. I have made exactly this much progress:

 

I think that the stadiums should have better lighting. The better for knitters that don't care much about football can see with. The giant elephant ears made up for the lack of lights.

So far, of all the woolies I have been working on, this dishcloth has been the most difficult.

 

I realize that some of you probably read that last caption a few times and wondered how a simple garter stitch dishcloth could possibly be kicking my arse. The story is thus:

 

The package arrived yesterday with balls of cotton needed to stitch up these traditional cloths. In my excitement the knitting began this morning at approximately 7am. After putting in the laundry I glanced at my pattern and cast on. I have knitted several of these cloths before and have the pattern pretty well memorized have come up with my own creative approach.

 

The increases were going well and soon there was a half triangle on my needles. Then the decreases came along. I knit and knit but the square didn't seem to be closing up. Instead, the shape that lay on my lap was something more like a pentagon. I showed Alex, who only asked, "are you improvising your pattern again?" Feeling a bit insulted and annoyed by his lacking faith in my stitching competence, I made a comment suggesting that he find another place to sit that was not in view of my knitting.

 

I kept going. I went to my mother's house and lamented that my cloth was still growing in the shape of a pentagon. She watched me and then asked about how the decreases were being made. Crap. The decreases; I didn't pay enough attention to the pattern. I explained what I had been doing for the increases, glanced down at the wee cloth and swore. Again.

 

Ripping back the entire morning of work (an swearing silently all the way) My mother pointed out that I really only needed to go back to the halfway point where I would have started my decreases (had I actually paid attention to the pattern), and then go from there. So, the stitches were slipped back onto the needle, the stitches recounted and then the needles turned to start the decreases and- the damn stitches were on the opposite side of the pointy part of the needle.

 

Taking a few more squares of chocolate, swearing a little more, and then reminding myself that I do know how to knit, I finally cast it off. There. A nice square-ish cloth that can be used to scrub dishes. The recipient had better love and appreciate them because after the first one and then the second, I don't know if there will be a complete set of five...