When all else fails

read the freaking instructions….

I am in the process of frogging 8″ of the sleeve on my Mondo cable cardi. This pattern has caused me a great deal of teeth gnashing and second guessing of my knitterly abilities because of my “creative interpretation” of the instructions. Ravelry to the rescue! Apparently I was not alone in my challenges – others were having questions around the instructions. The designer was wonderful, sending multiple emails to try to help us out, but it still wasn’t clicking for me. The pattern was eventually re-released to clarify the sections we were having problems with plus the added bonus of additional neck options.

However I can’t blame unclear instructions on my frogging. Sadly I didn’t read the instructions (which in this part happened to be crystal clear) and half way through the number of decreases I was supposed to do, I was already 3/4 down my forearm. I was faced with the question – do I really have freakishly short arms? A quick confab at The Purple Purl gave me options so I kept on knitting, decreasing more rapidly than I was instructed to.

When I got home, I dug out the instructions again and read them over (much head smacking on desk here). I had missed the double decrease part.

(insert whining and frogging sounds as 8″ of sleeves are ripped out)

I freely admit that I tend to over analyze pattern instructions because I was trained as a technical writer/editor. The designers I test edit for have told me that they love that I do that so that any possible interpretation is covered off, but as a knitter it can over complicate things. As Keziah so succinctly said “sometimes you just have to knit what they tell you to and stop thinking about it.”

On another note, some of the Purl regulars will be on Global News on Tuesday at 6pm and 11pm. They are doing a special on women’s health issues and wanted to interview us about knitting and stress relief. I’m the one who was spinning through the episode. I don’t know if they will be archiving it on the internet, but if they do I’ll post the link.

This is what I was spinning while they were taping:

 Fibre: Wellington Fibres Alpaca/Mohair/Wool

Colour: Merlot (it looks more purple/black here but it’s a tough one to photograph)