I Found My Lifeline!

It's tax weekend at the Merry Stitcher/Happy Capitalist place. As a result, my sewing spot is covered with tax forms and the like. So, I've stepped away from the arcs and into a new knitting project that has proven quite taxing.

This is my first "non-scarf" project. It's a "wrap" (which I realize is actually just a big scarf) that is supposed to be good for beginners. I fell in love with a fun yarn and bought the estimated 8 skeins this giant scarf will require. (If this thing never becomes a wrap, eight of my closest family and friends will have matching scarves!)

I quickly went to work, tackling the lacy "beginner" stitches. (It was all brand new to me!) The new stitches caused a few minor problems, which I dealt with along the way. Yesterday afternoon, as I prepared to move on to my second skein, I spotted a dropped stitch several rows below the needle. (Curses!) I unraveled the yarn to below the dropped stitch, and couldn't for life of me figure out how -- or exactly where -- to put the needle back in. It simply wouldn't work. So, I kept unraveling....unraveling...unraveling...all the way back to the beginning. My proud first skein of yarn lay in a squirrely mess.

So, I started again. Four or five rows in, it happened again. Another dropped stitch. I unraveled and started over...again. After another round or two of this, I decided to try ONE MORE TIME. (Then, I'd start searching for scarf patterns.) I began my most stressful knitting ever. No talking. No listening. No daydreaming. I concentrated on each stitch 100%, one friggin' stitch at a time.

Yes, they say knitting can be relaxing!

Before I put my new knitting supplies (including the eight skeins of yarn) on ebay, I put in an emergency request for help to my new knitting buddies on the knitting-help.com forum. This morning, help was on the way. And, it came in the form of a lifeline.

I learned how to put a "lifeline" in my knitting. By placing this simple white piece of cotton yarn in my needle, I now have a place to unravel to should that dreaded dropped stitch happen again. The lifeline will show me exactly where my needle needs to be. It's the knitting equivalent of clicking on "save".

Now that I have my lifeline, I'm a merry stitcher once again!