A Lesson Learned...

What's this mess you ask? Well, let me tell you...

I'll begin by explaining a little something that I do when I am finishing two different kinds of hand knits...

Gift Knits

When I am weaving in ends on an item that is meant to be a gift I take great care to hide them in a way that no one would ever be able to find them, making sure that they will not reappear after wear or washing. This perfectionism began a few years back after my Aunt Karen, a knitting junkie like myself, was admiring a baby sweater I had finished, she hesitated and then asked if she could turn the garment inside out and look at my seams!... all of a sudden I felt very self-conscious.

Knits for Me

On the contrary, when I am finishing an original design I always weave the ends in loosely, in a straight line, making them very obvious, almost temporary. I do this because these pieces stay with me and I don't really consider a design finished until it has passed the final test of wearability.

While I was pregnant I knit this adorable and elaborate hooded cardigan for Elsie. I resisted the temptation to knit a teeny tiny one that she could wear immediately and opted for the 2 year size so that it would get more use. This thing was a labour of love and the end result was stunning. The only issue was that the hood was absolutely enormous, I mean this thing could easily fit my head, it looked really goofy. I retired the sweater to my WIP tote until I could find the perfect buttons. Two and a half years later, with Elsie pushing 2, I've decided to fix the hood before she might actually fit into the sweater. When I tried to uncover my ends I could not for the life of me find them! I kept pulling the knitted fabric this way and that, investigating each and every seam, where were they? With no "ends" in sight I decided to take scissors to it, thinking I might uncover them that way, yeah, right...

I've obviously cut into a stitch and now the entire neck edge is threatening to unravel. I've learned something from all of this, from now on, if a hand knit is going to stay in my house, I will always leave the ends where I can see them...

...and who cares, nobody's looking.