What does this look like to you?
Wait, let me give you a hint. It's supposed to go like this:
Yup, it's supposed to be a hat. It should look more like this:
(It says Redbirds on the side for a family friend who plays for the Redbirds.)
Anyone notice the problem?
That brings me to our final rule.
Kalkette's Rules for Christmas Knitting a 5-part series.
Find Rule 1 here.
Find Rule 2 here.
Find Rule 3 here.
Find Rule 4 here.
Rule 5: Don't get cocky. Just because you feel like you are on schedule, have been working steadily, probably all year, on your gifts and just because you are doing well, don't get overconfident.
I'll tell you what happened here. I knit this hat on the weekend of Dec. 16. I was feeling good. I was getting my knitting done at a pretty good pace. There was one problem. It came out sort of...well, big. I started to think about it and the more I thought about it, the more it bothered me. I decided to wash it and give it a little shock. I filled a tub with cold, cold water and one side of the sink with hot, hot water. I swished it gently into the cold and then dashed it into the hot. Back and forth, several time, I even wrung on it a little to give it just a slight felting. Then I took out my coffee can with the hand towel wrapped around it. (Standard hat blocking object) I pulled the hat over it and walked away. Thinking to myself, "There, one more thing I can cross off the list. I'll just let it dry and it will be ready for wrapping. Still doing well, but I'd better go knit now."
Yeah, I came back and it was hanging off the bottom of the coffee can. Over the edge! That's waaaaaaaay too big for a hat. I kept myself from hyperventilating only by the skin of my teeth. I thought I could still fix it.
I decided a "light" felting in the washer was in order. I had accidentally done it before. just a little bit of felting and it would come out just fine. I certainly couldn't leave it the way it was! I filled the washer and dunked it in. I walked away. I came back to a neat felted bowl. It would have (maybe) been okay but the edges, instead of staying straight, flared out like a bowl. Yup, ruined. I had to completely reknit the thing. 5 days before Christmas.
The moral of the story? Don't get cocky, even a little thought that you are totally going to be fine, it's no problem, I can do it. Yeah, it can come back and bite you hard on the hindquarters. Words to live by.
Thanks to you all for tuning in for these rules. It sure was fun for me to post. Merry Christmas from the Kalkette Family to yours. If you don't celebrate Christmas, then may you have a happy holiday of your choosing! See you next week with a tally of how the gifts went over and if I finally finished (on time.)
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