Once, Twice, Three Times I'm Knitting

As most knitters will know, there are generally two types of knitting. One that is simple and can be carried out sitting on the sofa, watching tv, with only the occasional glance at the knit to see its progress. Then there is the other type of knitting that has a complex pattern and needs a large amount of concentration and can only be successfully carried out if you are only listening to the tv with the occasional glance at the screen. So why did I attempt total concentration on both last Sunday?

We went out for a nice long walk, had dinner and finished all the jobs in hand and then I settled down in front of the tv to watch my latest favourite costume drama and do my knitting. Now the pattern that I am following is not overly complex, but it is an Aran knit with panels of various patterns. This pattern has been a bit of a nightmare from the start and I will share that with you in my next post, but I have completed the back and was working on a sleeve. I love costume dramas, not just for the story line, but also because I devour every detail of the costumes. The outfits in this one have been stunning, and so here I was, transported to the 1930's with my knitting.

Now carefully using my chart and ruler, I knitted whilst totally absorbed in the programme. Knit, knit, knit, until I eventually glanced at the pattern and then my knitting. I realised that I was on row 12 of my pattern, but at row 7 I had forgotten to cable back the central cable twist stitches. It was blatantly obvious! There was no other way around the problem. Rip, rip, rip, down to what I thought was row 7 (whilst trying to follow tv storyline and another stunning outfit). Knit, knit, knit. I got to row 11 and glanced at my work. The cable twist was now correct, but the two diamond patterns on either side looked wrong "oh for goodness sakes!!!" Maybe not my exact words, but something like that). RIP, RIP, RIP. I decided to go back to the beginning of the sleeve band and start again. So by the end of an hour long programme I had only completed 11 rows of pattern correctly. 

So what have I learned from this experience? - if there is a great programme on tv, just watch it and leave the complex knitting until after it has finished, otherwise you will end up missing quite a lot of both!