First off, Super Sis, if you’re reading this before Christmas, do yourself a favor and skip it. Just for a few days. You’ll get it…later.
Back to my story.
Somebody somewhere is having a good laugh right now…
At my expense.
You see, for some odd reason, the knitting magic has disappeared from my hands, and I can’t, for the life of me, figure out why.
You’ll recall the disaster I encountered with the felted slippers. A HUGE thanks to all who assured me that this tragedy has befallen others in the knitting kingdom. I don’t feel as stupid as I did.
The latest mishap occurred today.
The AuburnChick family headed out for some Christmas visiting, spending oodles of hours in the car en route to our multiple destinations.
I figured this would be the perfect time to finish the project I made reference to in yesterday’s post.
The pattern I had set my heart on was the Journal Cover, found in the 2010 Calendar included with the December issue of Simply Knitting. As soon as I saw it, I thought of Super Sis. She loves to journal, so I figured I would pair it with a nice pen and Voila!
Of course, this is AuburnChick. Simply saying “Voila” doesn’t make things magically happen.
Anyhoo, at 8:00 this morning, I was still blind to my lofty aspirations. This is, after all, the Christmas season when there is magic in the air and when miracles happen.
I eagerly knit to my heart’s content, marvelling at how quickly I was making progress.
It wasn’t until we were headed to our second destination that I realized I might have a problem.
As I was working on the journal’s strap, I ran out of yarn.
Great.
I closely eyed my project.
I pulled out my ruler.
That’s when I discovered that my gauge was off…by two stitches per inch.
Yeah. You can guess what that means.
The cover is humongous…and oddly shaped.
Still, I held out hope and carried it with me as I entered Coupon Queen and Grand Pooba’s home.
Queenie pulled out a journal she had in the closet. I realized that this was the size the journal cover was SUPPOSED to be.
Great.
Take a look for yourself…
I didn’t exaggerate, did I?
I voiced the idea that maybe I could find a journal at the store…one that was a little taller and narrower.
Everyone raised their eyebrows.
Around this time, Super Sis’s husband, Super D, came to visit.
I explained my dilemma, and he did what everyone else was doing.
He laughed.
Oh, not a snicker, but a deep gutted laugh.
Thanks. I feel so much better now.
We decided to play a game. How many different things could this “thing” be?
Here’s what it looks like right now…
Perhaps it could be a wash cloth. Except that my sister is the same size as me (which ain’t big, mind you). This thing is large enough to almost go around her waist.
How about a kerchief? Or a bib (to which Super D said that she has gotten kind of messy lately)?
A shawl? Or how about if I put a dowel in the top, embroidered “Sisters are Forever” and asked her to hang it in her kitchen (to which Super D responded that this would be the thing you hang up right before said company visited).
Gee thanks.
You know, though, I can be stubborn (ok people who know me…I know you’re SHOCKED by this admission). I decided to visit the book store anyhow…just to make sure I had covered all bases.
Coupon Queen looked on as I tried to figure out a way to make this thing work on the many journals lining the store shelves.
One thing she didn’t do was to lie. She didn’t say a word as I stretched that piece of something over each book. However, she did look visibly relieved when I finally seemed to come to my senses…declaring the mission (and the project) a total failure.
Needless to say, we’re headed out shopping VERY early in the morning.
Just for laughs, I plan on wrapping this thing with whatever her “real” present is. Just to watch her reaction…see how nice she can be about something so utterly unusable.
As for me…Plan A, B, and C will henceforth involve better planning and a mass-produced item…just in case.
I am, after all, AuburnChick…Queen of Disaster.
Filed under: This-n-That | Tagged: christmas, cotton, journal cover, Knitting, Simply Knitting | 2 Comments »
AuburnChick's Adventures 