If At First You Don't Succeed ...

As the saying goes: If at first you don't succeed, try, try again.  I am generally willing to try a few more times, but there are occasions when I have decided something just isn't meant to be/to happen and I give up and move on.

Which nearly happened with my latest knitting project, the first thing I have started in 2022. Late last year, I decided that I should try knitting a cardigan.  I love cardigans, but the ones I have are either very lightweight or not really suitable for wearing outside the house (you know, those "fave" ones you put on when you are cold and they last for years and they look terrible but they are THE BEST).  I had some worsted weight yarn that I wanted to use, and so I started poking around for a pattern.  At first, I was going to try the Catbells Cardigan, but then decided that it was just a bit to involved for my first go-round; then, I fell in love with the Bookworm Cardigan (Ravelry link, just so you know), but decided that since the yarn I was planning to use was a bit dark the pattern wouldn't show that well.  Then - and I don't remember how I came across it - I saw the Wildhorse Cardigan (another Ravelry link), and decided that was the one!

Or was it?  I read through the pattern and thought I understood it.  So I cast on, knit the set-up row and then got to Row 1 and ... WTF?  I followed the directions, but it just didn't work out.  So ripped out what I had and started over - three separate times!  It just didn't make sense to me.  So I sent an e-mail to the designer, who immediately responded.  Which was very kind of her, and I sat down again to give it a shot and once again. NOPE.  I knew it was supposed to work, and trust me, the actual instructions seemed incredibly clear but I just could not get it.  So I sent her another e-mail, and added in that e-mail that I realized she was not there to hold my hand every step of the way, so if she didn't really have the time or desire to help, I understood and would put the project away for another time.  Because I really do know that sometimes I can leave something for a while, come back, and immediately understand how it works.

Well, not only did she write back again - but she included a drawing to show me *exactly* what she meant!  She said in the e-mail that "I really want you to be able to knit this cardigan."  And you know what?  With the drawing, the light bulb went on in my head and it all made sense.  I managed to get it going, and not only did it make sense, but I kept wondering why it had puzzled me so much.  I'm defintely writing back so that the designer knows how much I appreciate her help.

For reasons I will never understand, I can't add the photo to this post, so I will give you the Instagram link so you can see what I have so far.  Clearly I'm gonna need a longer needle!

Reading-wise, I have two books going.  This is my read-at-lunch book at work:

This book was originally published in 1957, written by Ruth Adam, and it is so enjoyable!  It's also not that long, but when you can only read in half-hour increments, the going is slow.  

My reading-at-home book is this one, which I think I may be the last person on earth who hadn't already read it:

It's much longer than the above book, but I'm really enjoying it, even if - like most books set in this time - I'm just really upset and angry about Nazis.  I'm a bit more than halfway through.  Not surprisingly, they are planning to start filming a limited series of it on Netflix in March of this year. I'm glad I'm reading it first, because a) I almost always like any book better than the movie/dramatization, and b) I hate it when book covers get changed to reflect the dramatizations, even when people I like are in them.  It's one of my pet peeves.

So there you go.  I'm joining Kat and the others for Unraveled Wednesday, so check out what everyone else has been up to lately!