why knitting in the dark is generally not a good plan

Working on a hat right now for Julie - yup, this one's for you! - and since Spring is almost here (I hope, I hope, I hope) I'm in a race against time with this one. Although I figure since they are in Michigan, that the cold weather might buy me a few extra weeks. It's a English beanie style black hat, knit with the very specific requirement that the wool "can't get all pilled". I have to say, I really love it when I get specific requests like that that are so achievable, makes me feel a certain sense of accomplishment. Simple pleasures : ) I'm using this great yarn, that is super springy and flies right around the needle. Very satisfying to work with. Anyway, to make a long story short, I've been trying to take advantage of our drive upstate to the country on weekends, where I can get a good 2 hours knitting in. Unfortunately it's generally at nighttime. So as I was happily knitting away in the car last Sunday night, feeling the ribs with my hands to make sure I was on track and excited that I managed to get a good 4 inches done on the hat and was almost ready for the decreasing stag, when I suddenly realized that as I had been knitting in the dark, I had somehow missed a sequence and my whole project was off by 1 stitch - ugh!!


SUCH A BUMMER! I hate unpicking! (I also hate seaming, but that's another story) While I did have a brief think about whether I should just keep going and incorporate that into the design element and continue moving the rib every few inches, it wouldn't end up being the hat she wanted. So the 4 inches came off again and I'm back to knitting it up to the decrease section. Oh well. Can't say I've learnt my lesson though. I'm fairly sure tomorrow will find me back to knitting the hat on the drive upstate ; )