2/17/10, 1000 - Cast on! Shifting to Team Sheepnuts! Knitting My So Called Scarf.

2/23/10 - And, halt! Temporarily, at least--this is going so slowly I’ve got no chance to finish on time, so I’m moving to the hat so I can at least get one medal for Team Sheepnuts.

2/24/10 - Still working on the hat, but that’ll finish up early tomorrow…and while I was working on it, I had a brainwave. Not only am I never going to get such a long scarf knit in time, I don’t particularly like long scarves. What I do like are cowls…and I love the ones that button in the front--very classy looking. Well, the cloche is going to have a button on it, so why not add buttonholes and matching buttons to my scarf and make it a cowl instead?

2/25/10 - From Scarf Super G to Aerial Unwind…sigh… Right before I broke to knit the hat I’d made a mistake in a purl row and came up a stitch short. I tried to tink back to the beginning and made a bigger mess (it’s just so hard with this stitch pattern to see where the stitches are), so I tried to push on and wing a fix…but the next row was looking worse. Tinking wasn’t an option, and I quickly learned that the yarn was too sticky and the stitches too confused even to frog back a few rows. So riiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiip! And cast on again…

2/26/10 - My So Called Scarf 2, Jen 0. And I was already almost back to where I’d to rip the first time when I realized I was once again missing a stitch…

…but I will not lose to a scarf.

2/27/10 - Scarf 3, Jen 0. This time I just cut what I had done off the ball; it had been frogged so many times it was getting fuzzy.

(later) - Scarf 4, Jen 0.

(still later) - Insanity: repeating the same actions over and over again and expecting a different outcome.

Scarf 5, Jen 0.

I’m finding a new pattern.

2/28/10 - Just after midnight. I have a new pattern, and I’m not going to bed until I’ve got several inches knit. Darn it.

I’m using the stitch pattern from the Yarn Harlot’s One Row Handspun Scarf, but to turn it into a buttoned cowl I’m using the length and button instructions from the Herringbone Neck Warmer. I really liked the look of that pattern…until I realized it was the exact same stitch pattern that was already kicking my butt.

Here’s some irony. I posted on Twitter:

This is not a surrender. I’ve ordered a tactical retreat and an operational pause to regroup and develop a new plan of attack.

My youngest brother responded:

Is the enemy the yarn or the pattern? If it’s the pattern, just do a different one and claim victory! If it’s the yarn…

How come my non-knitting little brother figured it out so quickly, and it took me 3 days and 5 tries?!?

03/01/10 - I will not fight a pattern again. I will not fight a pattern again. I will not fight a pattern again…

But I can finally declare success! I didn’t knit quite as far as the buttoned cowl pattern called for, but I didn’t need that much length. I just tried on as I felt I was getting close, and when it was just about there I added buttonholes and then several more rows. Sewed the buttons on, and the fit is perfect! It looks great with the cloche too…so I am more that satisfied. Maybe I didn’t get a medal, but I know how that New Zealand skier felt who crossed the finish line dead last in the 50K--he must have been utterly spent and not anywhere near the medals…but he still waved his arms in triumph because he crossed that finish line.