Subway Hooker: ADD and the Evolution of the EZ Snail Hat

I think I am not unusual in my short attention span as it impacts crochet and knitting projects. Perhaps one or two of you share the pain of quickly getting bored. I am now at the point where I am actually afraid to look at the basket o' UFOs next to my couch. The baggies of half-baked shrugs, scarves, sweaters, and shawls all shout "loser!" in their loud, yarny, voices and I can't take it. So when I get bored with repetition, even easy repetition, I look for something fast, easy, and attainable. A "low-hanging fruit," as it were. Something I can lord about proudly, an actual completed project.

So it was with this as background that I embarked on Elizabeth Zimmerman's Snail Hat. I love this thing. It is so weirdly cute, so homely...and it's a freaking HAT! How much time could that possibly take me? Why, EZ herself says it can be completed in an evening. Meg Swansen says it's a few hours from start to finish.

So where does that leave your faithful hooker?

Well, it's been a few days.

First I tried the one in the current issue of Vogue Knitting. It is a streamlined version of EZ's original from Knitting Without Tears. All was going along just fine until I messed up my count somewhere and couldn't fix it. So I frogged.

Then I started it again. Then I messed up my count again. So I frogged.

Then I looked at the original version. It has more swirls. And I read EZ's description of the mysterious "M1" and used it for the first set of increases. And wouldn't you know, it left big, gaping holes. But I soldiered on, using EZ's M1. And I didn't like the holes at all, so I switched, midstream, to the alternative version of M1, where you pick up the strand between the stitches and knit into the back of the stitch. And I realized that the original, half-hitch version was really better. So I frogged.

Then I started with the original Snail, using the alternative M1 for the bottom band so I'd get no gaping holes, then switched to the original M1 once the pattern began so I would get holes. And guess what? It's going swimmingly. Though I've not gotten far, I've gotten to understand the pattern to the point where I can tell right away if I stray. Hopefully, you'll see the finished chapeau in my next post.

Now, I started writing this post this morning. Some of you may remember my forlorn attempt at a Twinkle sweater. It has been lying in a heap on an ottoman in the sun room for a long time now, yarn needle still attached. Well, writing the above shamed me into seaming the sleeves and weaving in (most of) the ends. Et voila!

Not only do I not think it sucks, now that I've been shedding some lard, it's beginning to look nice on me! WOO freakin' HOO!

And part of shedding that lard is not indulging in my lovely, whole wheat bread.....