The best laid plans...

Wow. Long day here. No school + kids with colds (yes, all three) = long, tiring day.

Luckily, I've had knitting to keep me (relatively) sane. Once Brian's socks were finished, I sort of didn't know what to do with myself. This rarely occurs to me, as I tend to know exactly what one thing I want to be working on next. But here I found myself--socks finished, only one WIP (Tiffany Mitts) and quite unsure what to cast on next. Basically, I really wanted to cast on for either Monkey Socks with my Hazel Knits yarn or Purl-less Monkeys, the creation of Megann with I'm not sure what yarn. Hmmm...what to do? I also needed to cast on for Irene's hat and after that, mittens for she and Keegan, too. Did I mention how cold it is here now? Well, in the end, I felt like a bad mommy if I didn't put my daughter's welfare in front of my cute socks, so I cast on for her hat on Friday. What can I say? It has to get done.

OK, so I planned out what I wanted for the hat--not sure if I've mentioned it, but I think not. Seriously, how lazy is that? Can't I just click a few times and figure it out? Nah. It's been a long day. Here's the plan: some ribbing at the bottom, with a cuff...maybe 2 inches or a bit more? Then I am going to go a little bit in plain st. st., then add some polka dots (special request), and after a few rows of dots I'll start reducing. Dark purple for the hat, and lighter purple for the dots. I'm pretty certain that I did mention that part, right? Losing my mind? Don't answer that!

I swatched for the hat, and was not loving the looseness of the drape, so I went down to US 4's and tried again. Then I figured out how big I needed it to be, etc, and determined how many stitches I should cast on. Not good. The polka dot requires a 9 stitch repeat, so it has to be divisible by 9. You're following me, right? Then I also wanted K2, P2 ribbing, so I required a number divisible by 4 as well. Not good. I could only go up or down so much. The first number that worked would have made the hat 2 inches less around. Not acceptable. Ah! I had an idea--how about K1, P1 ribbing? Then I need divisible by 9 and 2, and that's not bad. I decided to go ahead and take 118, do the ribbing and then decrease by only one when I start the stockinette, which would give me the needed 117 sts.! Perfect.

After I realize that I don't have a circ. needle in size 4, I grab my double points and decide to start. I cast on and start the ribbing, but it's pretty tight on the needles. Not "gauge tight", but too-many-stitches-on-not-enough-needles tight. Well, I had some trouble. You know how it is, sometimes you just have trouble when there is no good reason on this earth for it. I cast on 3 or 4 times--not sure, I lost track. Ugh, frustrating. Plus, I am not fond of ribbing, especially 1x1. By that night, I'd decided not to have a cuff at all. I couldn't see adding that much length to this cumbersome project. Stitches were constantly falling off the needles and making me crazy. I'd even zipped out to a store to try to find either a circular or another set of 4's, just so I'd have another needle or two to spread these stitches onto. Again, did I mention that it's a set of only 4 needles? Yeah, great, huh?! Apparently Michael's at the Blackstone Valley Shoppes doesn't even carry a circular or double pointed needle under size 6. Can you believe that? So I guess I am stuck for now. Right before I went to bed, I looked at the hat and realized I had forgotten to use smaller needles for the ribbing. Doh! Sadly, I shook my head. I'm going to have to frog this whole hat... Zzzzzzz.

On Saturday, I ripped back the entire 3" or so of hat and took a fresh look. You know what Irene had wanted originally? The Kittyville hat from SnB Nation. Somehow we got off of that and onto the polka dots. What if I went with the seed stitch (which I've been dying to try) from that hat, and then just did the dots and skipped the ears, finishing the top like a regular hat?! Yes!! That would work and be totally cute. If I've got enough motivation left yarn left, I can even do the ear flaps and little cords. All right, I started with a fresh attitude and positive outlook. I could best this hat.

So here is what I've got:

Maybe a couple of inches of seed stitch, and lots of frustration. I do love the changes, though. This stitch is SO much prettier to me than the ribbing was, and looks lovely in the Swish DK. If I hadn't frogged I would probably be about done by now, but hey, we all know I would have hated that hat every time I looked at the super-loose ribbing. It was for the best.

Yesterday, I'd had enough of fighting the Knitting Gods, and just didn't want to even go near that hat. So I did what I generally do not do...I started something else. Now, I'm not going to abandon the hat, but I need something "else" to work on, when the darn thing drives me to either drink or knit, know what I mean?

So, I cast on for the Monkeys. And I am loving this project! Shame, shame--I know. I want the socks very badly, and I've been waiting, and I ADORE the yarn...I am so happy. The colors are amazing and I can't capture them properly. Wendee has an incredible yarn, between the colors and the little bit extra tight twist. I love knitting with it. I will try to make sure to finish Irene's hat, though. Promise.

Today I still wasn't ready to face that darned hat, though. But I felt a tinge of guilt to ignore it on behalf of my beloved Monkey socks. Then a thought hit me...my poor abandoned Tiffany Mittens. Yes, I would work on those. And so I did. They're really coming along. I am almost to the decreases for the hand. Want to see?

Now for some comment responses.

Qutecowgirl suggested using the orange as an accent in the shawl neck sweater, and I considered it, but I think I want it one single color. But thank you--you always have lots of other ideas I can tap into, no matter what the problem is. And thanks for agreeing with me on the baby poo thing. ;)

Ruth, you know, I am not sure what season I am. But I may very well be an autumn, or at least it's what I would guess I am. And for what it's worth, I did look into the reds, but I just have a hard time picking reds that look good on me. Some do, some are awful...and I can never figure out which are which. Hey, from the looks of it, I may just have to wait for the color card after all. I've got a lot lined up for now to work on anyway, right? Thanks for the input.

Shewolfy and Jen, thank you both for the insight into the circs for sock knitting. It's all becoming clearer now... And Jen, I certainly will email if I have a hard time, thanks!

Wendee, isn't Ravelry the coolest thing that way?! I love it. And I agree, the socks do look like tiny ribs. Brian said the same thing when I first showed him my very first sock (same pattern as his socks, by the way). It's hard to imagine that the plain stockinette looks so pretty and interesting, isn't it? Even if it is boring to knit... It's worth it.

And not to leave anyone out, thanks to Megann and Aimee as well, for the compliments on the socks! I did contact Aimee about the prize, and I'll announce the winner as soon as it arrives. Oh, and Megann? Jealous of the weather? Well, there IS something to be said for knitting socks for fun and never having to wear them. I am jealous of you!

I am so appreciative for the comments you all leave. It feels amazing every time I get a comment. Each, and every time. You are all the best!

Ps. Sorry for the hat rant.