If I Were A Better Knitter...

I'd always to take my time. I'd never ever switch needles mid-project. I'd carefully write out my modifications. And I'd give more thought to the stretch allowances of each and every type of stitch.

But I'm not that better knitter self. I am an impatient, self-indulgent, needle-switching, fly-by-the-seat-of-her-pants knitter who can barely pause to contemplate gauge and right-measurement. It just happens that way and the damage is always done in the doing and never in the planning. I never plan. I just "do".

However, I am a fixer and figure-er when I finally get to that part of the "doing". And in this case, I figure I'll be doing quite a bit of fixing.

I started the "Intricate Stag bag*" out of pure fascination with the chart. Not being a big fan of deer particularly, it just seemed the right chart at the right time. Also seemed a good way to burn through some my mostly unused Palette stash. (mistake #1, I think)

I love the colors I had to work with, especially I was looking to side-step the whole John Deere phenomena that abounds in these parts. But I was short a ball of dark grey and had to accommodate by using it light grey for parts. (not a mistake, I'm pretty sure)

Where the fixin' is gonna happen is in my on-the-fly miscalculations of the amount of stockinette I'd need to do in the back. I just got lazy. And bored. So I rushed the point at which I placed the mini-chart in the back and I under shot the remaining stockinette to be done. That also leads to the general un-stretchibility of stockinette, by the way.

Then, I switched needles for the last garter rows. (mistake# 3, a biggie) Garter stitched on bamboo straight needles is far more stretchy than garter stitched on the same-sized aluminum circulars. Most people know this, no doubt. Not me.

So it sits a-blocking right now. Imperfect and still kinda pretty. In phase two of how-to-better-yourself-through-poor-crafting, well....I tell you what I've done once I've done it. See, lesson one is already taking root....being thoughtful about how to proceed is one way pretending** you know what in the hoo-hah you're doing.

* For the pattern, your gonna have to sign up for Knitting Daily....it's fine....just do it.

** My fail-safe is throw the whole thing in pot of boiling water just to watch in fascination as it felts up. Just so you know.