Mahka Crafts: Wonderful Wallaby Woes: Part 1

A few years back someone in a Vermont knitting group gave me a pattern for the Wonderful Wallaby. It is a sweater with, you guessed it, a hood and a big front pouch. It is super fun, fairly quick to knit, all in the round, and the pattern is for kid’s size 2 to XXXL adult. Really, what could be better?

The pattern was written by Waldorf school teachers and is full of encouragement, helpful hints and super cute drawings of kangaroos knitting. Now really, can you think of anything better then a drawing of a kangaroo knitting? Ok maybe you can but it has to be on the top of the list, right?

Over the years I have made several for myself and as gifts. Recently I had two Wallabies going at once, one for my sweetie and one for my nephew. And of course this simple pattern that had not failed me yet, failed on both counts. Or maybe I had better say that I failed the pattern, again on both counts.

Apparently I can’t count. You would think that this would have come up before in my life but, no, I just noticed or perhaps I developed some odd brain disorder where one loses the ability to count knitting stitches as they age. Whichever the case may be the verdict is the same, I can’t count.

Let’s go back a few weeks ago to me on the couch making the wee Wallaby while watching a marathon of Buffy the Vampire Slayer. Body and pouch knit, check. Sleeve one and two knit, check. Join pieces together and decrease for neck, check…wait, uncheck. Rip back, rejoin sleeves due to a difference in number of stitches on each side of body, check.

Now let’s stop for a moment and think, wouldn’t this be a good time to recount the stitches on both sleeves to make sure that they are the same. It sure would have been a good idea, but no that is not what I did. Instead I reattached the sleeves, was again almost to the hood when I counted and yup: all wrong. Rip back. This time I counted, redid one sleeve so they were now both the same number of stitches and proceeded with attaching. Knit all the way till most of the hood is completed, apparently without looking down, and realize that the sleeve are now on completely lopsided so that the pouch is mostly around to one side.

You all must appreciate the courage of showing you this very blurry picture that documents my inability to count, not once, not twice but three TIMES. The fact that I stopped and took a picture of this insanity and didn’t hide it from you all says something, I am not sure what. Maybe it says: don’t watch marathons of Buffy and knit. Or perhaps the super obvious: look down at your knitting every once in awhile!