Am I Having Fun Yet?

Many years ago, I was given great words to live by: Once past the age of forty, a person shouldn't have to endure social events or leisure activities that one doesn't enjoy. The litmus test for these occasions, I was told, was to ask "Am I having fun yet?" Should the answer be "No", walk away.

When it comes to knitting however, I am not sure the advise is valid. Take this past week.

First there was Kim's wrap.

Dropped stitches, zig zag sewing to correct the problem and a new fringe. Was it fun discovering that I had dropped a K-Zillion stitches? Was it fun correcting the problem instead of moving on to a new and therefore exciting-because-it-contained-no-mistakes-yet, project? Obviously, the answer was "No".

And then there is my new hat. The one I am knitting with the Debbie Bliss Donegal Aran Tweed to compliment my good coat.

Of course, I wouldn't use a pattern to knit a hat.

Why use a pattern when I am brilliant enough to make up my own? In fact, I am so brilliant that I not only designed a hat pattern for myself, but last winter typed it up, put a couple of colour pictures on the front and distributed it to everyone at knit group.

My hat pattern, knit from the top down, shows four points of increase, each marked with a marker. The knitter is to increase on each side of the marker. Eight increases, at 4 spots on the hat. Looks great when making a toque. My 'Aren't I Smart" pattern, distributed to my fellow knitters, suggested that to make a Tam, simply keep increasing until the hat measures 10 inches across. In pattern terms, this is called 'errata' (well, in my case -'erratum'). In other words - WRONG. Knitters, don't do it.

This is what you will get if you knit the hat as my "I'm So Smart' pattern tells you to do.Looks like a pillow. A square hat. For a tête carré my French friends might say. That is a square head. A block head. That's me alright.

Of course you can't do a double increase at only four points on the hat for 10 inches and have anything but a square hat. There should be 8 points of increase, not four. With one increase per spot, not two. Where, oh, where was my editor?

Did I have fun knitting a square-head hat? Did I have fun ripping out to re-do? Absolutely not. But guess I won't give up knitting because of it. I'll leave the "Am I Having Fun Yet" question for Tupperware parties. Them I can give up.