Things That Should Take An Hour

In no particular order, here are some things that ought to take an hour.

• One of Rascal's haircuts.
• A batch of muffins, from mixing to removal from the oven.
• The bus ride from my parents' house to the university (at least, it used to, back in the Dark Ages when I went to school).
• The first rise of a loaf of bread.
• A good massage.
• Knitting a couple of inches on a sweater...

Except, no... that doesn't happen here. It seems to take way longer for that last one to happen.

I've been speeding along with my Rosamund's Cardigan, but you know the problem with speeding, right? Sometimes you go quickly, but sometimes, you get pulled over for being silly enough to rush.

I had a chance to sit down and work on this sweater last night. I worked a few rows, and thought to myself, I think I'm almost ready to start the lower border on this thing. I wonder if it's long enough yet?  I usually need to knit a few extra inches on my sweaters because most patterns are too short for my torso, but I have yet to actually write down a measurement for myself for my own reference. Instead, I knit, then try on, then rip out, then knit some more... and somehow, I end up with a sweater.

I tried this one on and thought, Three more inches, then I'll knit the border. That should take me about an hour or so...

But no... that didn't happen. Instead:

• My Denise needles came apart for the ten billionth time and one of my cables fell apart.
• I tried putting the needles back together, but dropped some stitches on the cable.
• I tried putting the cable back together, but I got some of the stitches twisted up the wrong way.
• I spent the rest of the hour unravelling the cable down for five rows and working them back up, which took extra long because it was at the end of a row and it's always messier at the end of the row...

At the very least, I'm smart enough to know to quit while I'm ahead. I spent the rest of the evening winding another skein of yarn, enough to finish the sleeves, then I did some stretching and chatted with some friends online before I went to bed.

So, I'm stalled on this sweater right now, but I today I get to go over to Tara's house for a knitting afternoon. Perhaps tea and treats and good yarn gabbing will set me back on the right track again.

Did someone say treats?