Boy, I am such a dreamer.

A few months ago my mother showed me the basics of knitting…casting on, the knit stitch, the purl stitch, casting off…and for weeks I worked on a scarf of simple knitted stitches—no fancy stuff—just something easy to help me get comfortable with the technique. And it was coming along pretty well, too, almost finished…until I noticed…the missing stitch. Yikes. A gaffe that left an unsightly, gaping hole…one that I knew I would not be able to live with. If knitted to fruition, each time I wore the wretched thing I would have to make a conscious effort to hide the flaw, lest tell everyone within earshot to “Turn away! A missed stitch has left a ghastly hole in my hand-knitted scarf!”

So, I pulled out tens and tens of rows, and ya know, unknitting is almost as fun as knitting! Okay, so maybe I wasn’t taking this crafty thing seriously enough. No problem. I’d buckle down and re-attempt that scarf of simple knitted stitches. Instead, though, I hit the internet looking for a pattern for something a little more interesting than a plain ole scarf…something with multicolors…something with a stockinette or cable stitch…something way too complicated for my skill level. So, for a few weeks I jabbered on about a snowboarder hat…an intricately designed piece of wooly wear that would be knitted by me to be pulled down over my ears, albeit only in my dreams. That is, until W returned from a visit to New York. He happened to come across this one on the streets of Manhattan—only $5, woolen with a fleecy lining, and, having already tested it, it is impervious to windy, below-freezing weather. I’m sure that W is just as happy as I am, as this will shut up my incessant prattle on hats that are yet to be knit.

So, as soon as I master that simple knitted scarf, I will try my hand at knitting my own hat.

Again, I am such a dreamer.