Lessons in Mitten Patterns...

It seems the greatest sin you can commit is a knitter is getting cocky. The moment that your brain begins to think "hey I'm getting the hang of this knitting thing" and you start bragging to anyone who'll listen about what an awesome knitter you are- knitting will bite you so hard you have to take a moment, admit your weaknesses and shut up.

Knitting bit me hard last night.

I'm making a lovely pair of chunky mitts from the fall issue of Vogue knitting. I've completed 2 mitts, yet sadly I still have another hand to knit. Can you spot the error?

No? What if I showed the finished mitten next to the picture of what it's supposed to look like finished?

The cables are supposed to criss cross-- they're not doing it the finished mitten. You'll note that someone (I won't name names to protect the foolish) didn't pay close enough to the chart pattern. Someone ignored their gut instinct to highlight the different cables in different colors to prevent confusion. Someone knit to the very end of the pattern, wove the ends in, took it to work and bragged to everyone she knew about how the awesome the knit was without realizing that what she was showing them was WRONG. Someone was very sad to realize she had to knit a third mitten so that she could actually knit the mittens right.

I appreciate that the wrong mitten actually looks pretty good- and not to worry, my plan is with the left over yarn to knit another wrong patterned mitten to match for the next hand, there is enough yarn. This is just another lesson I learn, (and sadly this is not the first time that I've had to learn this particular lesson... you'd think being idiot would sink in the first time!) on my path as a knitter. Sometimes I just wish that I could knit things without having to learn lessons... you know?

In more upbeat news- I finished Dexter's Doggy sweater!

Pattern: Darling Darby Sweater by Jean Clement

Yarn: Bernat Satin - 2 skeins in Bordeaux

Needles: US size 8

Notes: BEST. DOG. PATTERN. EVER. Working on the measurements the pattern suggests you take, and doing a little math (EEK!) this sweater fit it's intended recipient like a glove. It's great to know that it's going to help keep little Dexter warm on his airplane ride. I'd highly recommend knitting this again- and I just may myself. It's highly adaptable, and the instructions are easy to work with.

In other exciting news- this coming weekend I'm off to the Make 1 Fall Retreat! I'm going to be taking a sock design class with Cookie A!! I'm going to learn from the MASTER sock designer... I can't WAIT. I think it's going to be loads and loads and LOADS of fun- hanging out with knitters and the knitterati! This retreat is basically a "who's who" in the knitting world-- and I'm so excited to be rubbing elbows with the likes of; Stephanie Pearl-McPhee (AKA Yarn Harlot), Amy Singer (Editor of Knitty magazine), Amy Swenson (Indigirl), Stephanie Japel (of Glampyre fame), Cookie A (Goddess of amazing sock designs [see Olympic socks she designed]) and Nancy Bush ([the famous New England Sock designer] Estonian knitter and sock designer. I expect to take a million pictures and report back with many happy stories.

So- in the mean time I need to get back to these mitts so I have something to warm my hands up in Kananaskis when I'm hanging with my "knitting peeps".