It is snowing in central Illinois. So much snow that my 5k was cancelled for today (Sunday) on Friday. The snow should let up about 2 am. The forecast is for 7-10 inches. I hope we can go play later today. It is big wet, heavy snow which is perfect for packing into forts, snowmen and snowballs. None of the snow so far this winter has been this perfect for play.
Snowy weather is the perfect time to finish up some projects. I have been working on a hat for Stormy on and off for weeks. I started out very happy with the project but as I went on, I lost a lot of interest because the pattern is not well written and the hat was not coming out quite right. But this morning I decided to finish it off and see how good or bad it really was.
The pattern is called "Alien Elf" and it is in the book Monster Knits for Little Monsters.
Stormy looks exceedingly cute in anything so that really helps boost the cuteness of this hat, It is supposed to have Yoda-like ears but I ran out of yarn on the second ear. I ran out of yarn because the hat is so big. I used the toddler sizing and got a hat that fits me. The pattern called for size US 3 needles with bulky yarn and if you are not familiar with needle to yarn ratios, this ratio is weird. Bulky yarn is the thickest of yarns while US 3 is on the small end of the needles. I decided to use needles more suited of the yarn thickness and I did get gauge (how many stitches per inch there should be). However my gauge seems to have run amok and I ended up with this number.
I think I will remake it because I love the concept, but I'll fiddle around with the needle size a bit more to get a hat that will actually fit a toddler .
And that is how knitting (or really any project) goes. Some projects turn out great, others get shoved in the back of the closet. I think the majority of my projects do turn out nicely, but I still seem to focus on the wonky ones. That's how I am at work too. I focus on the projects that didn't turn out quite right instead of concentrating on all the good things. Maybe that makes me a pessimist, but I see it more of always aiming for perfection. I am an oldest child, I have perfection issues. I think that is why I like knitting, it shows me in tangible ways that something can be pretty good without being totally perfect. When I make something, I see all the flaws because I made them and I know where to look, but a person who sees my finished object only sees it in its entirety and they think it is great.
Even though this hat didn't turn out right, it is still okay and serves its function. Things don't have to be perfect to be great. Knitting is full of life lessons.
What life lesson have you recently learned?
Snowy weather is the perfect time to finish up some projects. I have been working on a hat for Stormy on and off for weeks. I started out very happy with the project but as I went on, I lost a lot of interest because the pattern is not well written and the hat was not coming out quite right. But this morning I decided to finish it off and see how good or bad it really was.
The pattern is called "Alien Elf" and it is in the book Monster Knits for Little Monsters.
Stormy looks exceedingly cute in anything so that really helps boost the cuteness of this hat, It is supposed to have Yoda-like ears but I ran out of yarn on the second ear. I ran out of yarn because the hat is so big. I used the toddler sizing and got a hat that fits me. The pattern called for size US 3 needles with bulky yarn and if you are not familiar with needle to yarn ratios, this ratio is weird. Bulky yarn is the thickest of yarns while US 3 is on the small end of the needles. I decided to use needles more suited of the yarn thickness and I did get gauge (how many stitches per inch there should be). However my gauge seems to have run amok and I ended up with this number.
I think I will remake it because I love the concept, but I'll fiddle around with the needle size a bit more to get a hat that will actually fit a toddler .
And that is how knitting (or really any project) goes. Some projects turn out great, others get shoved in the back of the closet. I think the majority of my projects do turn out nicely, but I still seem to focus on the wonky ones. That's how I am at work too. I focus on the projects that didn't turn out quite right instead of concentrating on all the good things. Maybe that makes me a pessimist, but I see it more of always aiming for perfection. I am an oldest child, I have perfection issues. I think that is why I like knitting, it shows me in tangible ways that something can be pretty good without being totally perfect. When I make something, I see all the flaws because I made them and I know where to look, but a person who sees my finished object only sees it in its entirety and they think it is great.
Even though this hat didn't turn out right, it is still okay and serves its function. Things don't have to be perfect to be great. Knitting is full of life lessons.
What life lesson have you recently learned?
No comments:
Post a Comment