Just sit right back and you'll hear a tale,
A tale of a fateful trip.
That started with a ball of yarn,
And some sticks with pointy tips!
Ha - I crack myself up! But seriously, this is a lot of knitting content in this post - all about my Slow Bee adventures. (just warnin' ya'!)
So, I finished up my gauge swatch a couple of weeks ago, blocked it, and was more or less pleased with how it came out. My gauge was correct (yay), even though my swatch ended up looking a little wonky from my half-assed blocking. I knit the top of the swatch with the clear beads I had purchased, and the bottom with the matching/multi colored beads. I decided the clear was definitely the way to go. They blend in with the yarn, but give off just enough sparkle when the light hits them just so. (They're kinda hard to see in the photo, but trust me, they work!)
So, with that final decision made, I was off and knitting Clue 1 of the KAL. As I'm sure I've mentioned once or twice, I tend to knit on the slow side, and since this was my first time knitting something so intricate, I was extra careful (slow). I decided to follow the old "an ounce of prevention..." methodology, and took the time to place my stitch markers before and after each repeat; I counted my stitches between the markers at the end of each row; I inserted my life line (the white thread you can see running through the middle of my work), just in case; and even invested in some "grown up" needles to aid in my quest.
(Brief pause to gush about the aforementioned needles - they are the Addi Turbo Lace Needles, in size 3 with a 47 inch cable. I love love love them!!! The slickness of the needles, the sharpness of the points, the smoothness of the cable joins - I feel a song coming on (but I'll spare you!)!)
I consulted the pattern often, and as I started to see the pattern emerge, I got more and more confident. Placing the beads turned out to be a snap, and with my new extra sharp needles, those tricky ssk's and k3tog's were cake! I found my groove and started to make some progress. Five days of work (told you I was slow), and I was just about done with clue 1. Couldn't wait to start on clue 2, and after a lovely evening of knitting, I went to bed on Sunday with a feeling of accomplishment.
Just as I was drifting off to sleep, I woke up with a jolt. OH. NOOOOOOO. I've been knitting the borders totally WRONG!!! ARGH!!!! Who knows why it occurred to me just then, but I had to get up right then and check the pattern. Yup - totally wrong!
The edges are supposed to be knit in garter stitch (knit on both sides), I was knitting one side and purling the other. What a rookie mistake!
I've hardly been able to even look at my Slow Bee since then. I went on Ravelry to see how others were faring with their KAL's (aka commiserate and whine), and checked out the Slow Bee message board. I bored my BFF daily with my dilemma. Basically, I was living in Denial Town for the last 4 days. I just could not bring myself to utter that horrible F-word, even though I knew, in my heart, I'd have to (gulp) frog it and start over.
I know that I'm not the first to frog this project - doubt that I'll be the last. I'm just bummed and annoyed that it was for something so dumb. Live and learn I guess.
So, today was the the day. The Slow Bee came out of it's time-out, posed for some last photos, and was frogged until it was no more.
This is what was left:
Turns out, I survived the frogging, and cast on once again for the Slow Bee KAL. What an adventure it's been so far. I've laughed, I've cried, and even learned a little something about myself! Tee-hee, dramatic much??
