I’ve knit several of these ornaments, four to be exact. I haven’t really had any major issues, so I began to grow complacent.
First, I bought aqua beads that came in a package with several different shades of tealish. When Meghan said, I’m not sure different colors of beads is a good idea, I said, I’ll be careful and plan. So, during the cluster that was the Aggie game last weekend, I carefully strung 110 beads in order so no big sections were one shade of teal. Then, I began to knit. I wasn’t paying much attention and soon, I was over halfway done and looking down at an ugly Christmas ornament. I love the Teal Mist colorway, so I wasn’t about to infect it with ugly beading. I ripped it out.
Then, I carefully sorted the bag of beads into five different colors and asked TH which one he thought was prettiest. He liked the opalish ones. So, I started stringing those on…..only to realize that some of them had chips in their shiny coating and looked cheap. So, I unstrung them.
I then selected TH’s second choice and strung 120 beads just in case. Ah, things seemed to be on a good path now. Until I took this on the road. I was knitting in the car (not while I was driving) and I somehow placed a bead and then knitted two stitches and placed a bead and knitted two more and placed a bead then the went back to the pattern with FOUR stitches between each bead. The sad part is that I noticed about 12-14 rows later. Sigh. I unknitted a row or two and then thought, there has to be another way to skin this silly irritating aqua ball of a cat. So, I got out the pruning shears to crack the bead off. Super plan! I’m a genius. Except that the shears were more sharp than I expected AND the bead was more sturdy than expected, so I cut the yarn and the bead was intact. No, I’m not kidding. So, I carefully pulled the extra yarn together and tied a square knot. I dropped the stitch and picked up the new formed loop with the knot to the inside. Crisis avoided. I finished up the ornament and surprisingly, it looks alright, especially considering the journey. Don’t you think?


Ps. Happy Birthday, Buck!