What A Flower Child...

Good Morning Everyone!

I better start by quoting Carla, "If you tell anyone that sweater is easy" Well, you know how everything is fine once you're past it? Like those stupid half double crochet bobbles that just about put me in the looney bin. And no, they really did not get that much easier after doing over 84 of them. Watching me manipulate a crochet hook is nothing short of painful, I AM AN AWKWARD CROCHETER!! I will save you the details pertaining to the mental anguish having a crochet hook in my hand produces, OMG! All I could do is picture Martha shaking her head, not in judgement, but just shaking her head. The reason? I had to use my knitting needle to successfully get that stupid hook through SEVEN loops. Nicole thought it was brilliant, she witnessed firsthand my level of ineptness with a crochet hook. Knitting needles are my security blanket, crochet hooks are my kryptonite, lol....

What I am about to share with you, hits hard, really hard, grab a drink and maybe a snack. Have you any idea just how much trouble 1 YO can cause? You may think you do, but trust me, until you've had to tink, deconstruct, reconstruct row 39 (there are 42 bobbles) of Flower Child, you have no idea....Imagine the sheer frustration of watching a VERY GOOD video a gazillion times, and you still don't get it. The only thing you're creating is a big stretched out stitch, NO BOBBLE. Fine, you get past that, Nicole to the rescue, off you go. You see the light at the end of the tunnel, THANK GOD!!! It's the last row of bobbles, you're almost to the end, then, you spot it, a YO, IT SHOULD NOT BE THERE!!! OMG I already know the answer but stare at it in sheer desperation hoping there's another solution. No joke, it took me 4 1/2 hours to get rid of that one stupid YO, I could drive to Boston in that time lol...I finally get back to where I'd started and vowed to put in my first life line. I made a rookie mistake, of course, and the life line went through all 28 stitch markers, hmmm. I tried fixing it and became even more frustrated and decided that I would get an "A" for effort and move on, sans lifeline, you know I love living on the edge. I do not feel it would be prudent to report on the current status, suffice it to say, we're almost ready to divide the front and back and morph into mindless knitting mode. Perfect timing, I get to cast on the Florence sweater on Saturday's KAL.

I've had a fantastic time seeing all kinds of wonderful people on a mission during the Great Northern Yarn Haul. I'm so excited to finally get out on the road and do some exploring TOMORROW!! I love visiting other shops to see how they are merchandised, what's popular, and best of all, what's being worked on. I know I will be coming back with yarn I don't need, likely a new project bag, tons of inspiration, and a day full of fun memories. With any luck, I'll have a few inches finished on the body of my Flower Child. I am bound and determined to get through the rest of the yoke and get that thing divided. Hopefully today that will happen without incident, fingers crossed. I would like to believe that I am through the worst of it, but....knitting keeps me humble.

Next month's Knitter's Anonymous meeting will be on Monday August 4th from 4:oo-? at Carla's. We have KAL gals this Saturday, July 26th 9-11:00, get ready to cast on the Florence sweater. We will be meeting tomorrow evening, Wednesday 6-7:30, for Stitch and Bitch, I hope you can join in the fun. Make it a great day and I'll see you soon!

Katy