Those of you who've knit Chapeau Marnier know that it involves a chart. And I hate charts. I don't know why, there's nothing inherently difficult about them, but they always seem to trip me up. But I simply couldn't write off Chapeau just because of the chart--it's too pretty. So I decided to take a slow, rational approach to the chart. I printed it out and blew it up a bit so I could read it clearly. Before I even started, I read it backward and forward, up and down. I made sure I understood every abbreviation before I began. I numbered large blocks of stitches so I could just glance at them and read "knit 7" instead of counting them every time.
And then I started.
And, in starting, I made one of the stupidest knitting moves I've had the misfortune of making since I began this journey in January:
I read the chart in the wrong direction.
Because what's one of the first things you learn when you learn about charts?
Read the first row right to left, the second row left to right, etc., etc.
But guess what?
That doesn't apply when you're knitting IN A CIRCLE!!!
Thinking about it now, it's seems blatantly obvious--you're not knitting back and forth, so you don't read back and forth. Duh. But somehow this didn't occur to me until I was 14 rows into the pattern and wondering why my hat brim didn't match all of the pictures of Chapeau on Ravelry.
Sigh.
But, rest assured, it's all worth it. It really is a beautiful hat, and I will post pictures if I ever bother to blog from home, where my camera is, rather than from my place of employment. I'm actually quite jealous of my swap buddy, the lucky recipient of this hat, and I can't wait to knit one for myself.
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