You know, that number between 7 and 9...

So my idiot factor was raised about three fold yesterday. As I'm walking out the door for work The Boy yells "It's Thursday, you going to knit night" (he doesn't know about the cool spelling of knit knite). Aw shit, is it really Thursday already, must grab knitting bags, no time to grab knitting bags (at this point I was 1/2 an hour late leaving for work) ((Okay I totally had time to grab a bag that already had my knitting in it but I've been embarrassed by the nonexistent nature of my bee fields shawl. Starting this project has made me nervous and self conscious. Normally I am not one to let complicated patterns or new techniques stop me, but I just kept putting it off. Plus I'm using such bee-utiful yarn that my friend Bob spun and dyed so I know he'll want to see how it's knitting up, then I will have to admit that I am a looser knitter and he probably won't want to talk to me and Cheri will stop liking me and they'll kick me outta knit knite and I'll end up living on the street because I'll loose my job after I spend my days and nights laying in bed with the covers over my head all because I couldn't start on Bee Fields!)

I rush out the door leaving my knitting and proceed to work. Spend half my day convincing myself that the lack of knitting for the knite of knitting is an opportunity to enhance my stash and knit for a good cause. I look for a couple scarf patterns, find one I like and print it out then proceed to the shop.

I enhance my stash with some fun Silky Wool in a beautiful red (dude it was on sale for $3.95, it would have been criminal not to buy it!), then I realize that I left the pattern in the car. I run out to my car to get the pattern..... my eye wanders to the back seat. There, on my back seat, is my cute basket/bag with my bee-utiful yarn and pattern for the illustrious Bee Fields. (How the hell did it get there, I purposefully didn't grab it so no one would see my failure. I still don't know, I think the Knitting Goddess has rigged this as a fun joke.) At this point I have two choices, I can admit that I have not started and that I have let something as silly as a provisional cast-on keep me from knitting or I can ignore it, grab the pattern and pretend I'm not an idiot. Now knit knite has helped me figure out many things over the last year (and they already know that I'm an idiot) so finally the smarter half of myself kicked my own butt and grabbed the bag. I admit my failure to Bob, Cheri and Judy and Bob sweetly teaches me (well he tries anyway) provisional cast on (there was no teasing ribbing or sarcasm, anyone who knows Bob will tell you he is not that way at all). Now the easiest form of provisional cast on is to use a crochet hook. Bob is a master hooker (teehee) and he shows me how (to cast on, not hook =P ). So I clumsily try to cast on. After 15 minutes I have my first 8 stitches cast on. I place my marker and go for the next 5. At some point Bob finally realized how to help me get this crochet thing down better. Things progress much faster after that. An hour later (:P see much faster) Bob looks over "Are you still casting on?" (there are only 27 stitches to cast on but I was distracted and had to stop a couple times to give opinions on stuff, it's totally not that I'm a looser =P ). Luckily I had just finished and was counting to make sure everything was right. I count the eight stitches that are supposed to be before my first marker but then there is this pesky extra stitch. Damn! Well circulars are made so you can slide the project to the other side and slip extras off, right? So I slip off the stitch and continue counting. Double damn! Now the end section has 7. Also an easy fix, slid it back to the correct position and awkwardly cast on one more. There all perfect!! Yey now I can knit!!!!!

2 rows , a trillion mistakes and probably an hour later (remember a row is only 27 stitches =P ) I realize that I only have 7 stitches instead of freakin 8 in this section and I have no idea how to fix it. I officially can not count to 8 and I give up knitting for the night.

Soooo from this wonderful experience I have learned how to provisional cast-on; I've learned that if I'm going to provisional cast-on I need quiet, no black jackets to look at or yarn colors to help someone decide on, and about 10x as long to complete the cast on as it would normally take me; and that knitting complicated lace is not a project you take to knit knite. Hopefully I have learned my lessons well.

(By the way, no one kicked me outta knit knite so it looks like I won't have to start looking for big appliance boxes after all. My stash is relieved, it wasn't looking forward to the draftiness of box living.)