Lesson Learned

Baby Hat(e)

This seemingly innocent little baby hat(e) was crafted from some of the most hateful yarn I have ever had the displeasure to work with. And I really have only myself to blame. And maybe some yarn fumes. And also the siren call of the colorway.

So there was this little baby that got born as babies are wont to do. And I decided that this particular little baby needed a jacket. So I went to the yarn store in search of some pretty yarn to make this baby a jacket. And I was set on a variegated yarn because, well, I get bored easily and variegated yarn tends to hold my attention. Noro was the only yarn that was speaking to me, and this particular Taiyo yarn enthralled me to bits. It’s softer than Kureyon and more affordable than some other Noro yarns that will remain unnamed.

There was just this one teensy little problem. And that problem’s name is COTTON. I hate knitting with cotton. Cotton yarn is the bane of my existence! We are SWORN ENEMIES! But the wool and silk and other fibers assured me that they would keep the cotton under control. It was only 40% cotton. Which really, when you think about it, is less than half! I wouldn’t even notice it was there! The yarn assured me smooth sailing with its pretty colors and less than half cotton content. I was so torn. The colors were just perfect! But the cotton! Would it be all right? I mean, really all right? I just didn’t know what to do!

So I bought two skeins.

And then I proceeded to start and restart the same baby jacket over and over again. No matter what I did, the cotton was there! And noticeable! and HATEFUL. And fighting me every step of the way! It made me constantly mess up what I was doing and just refused to cooperate. I’m fairly certain that it changed the pattern on me several times when I wasn’t looking.

After much fighting and quickly getting nowhere, I decided that I would make a peace offering and knit a little hat(e) with the yarn to show that I was willing to make that first diplomatic step towards peace. And, that’s as far as it got. The yarn still refused to cooperate with me when it came to the jacket. And can I just say? It was no cake walk knitting that little hat(e). The cotton was EVER present through the whole process.It was at this point, with time running short on supply that I made an executive decision and banished the yarn to a dark corner of my yarn cabinet.

I then appropriated some handspun stash yarn and started a new jacket. In a matter of 4 days, I knit up a baby jacket. I did, however, have to use two different colorways of handspun since I didn’t have quite enough of either to make one whole sweater. Still, I think the resulting jacket turned out quite well under the circumstances. All that is left is the blocking and the buttons, which will be done tonight.

And thus I have learned, yet again, that cotton and I do not mix when it comes to knitting.

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