in the pink

    It's just a little warm in the house today, but not so warm that I want to close the windows and turn on the A/C. So, as my hands tend to be the warmest part of my body, it's been less pleasant to knit today.     The project I have been working on for the last week or so has involved a good bit of Tubular cast-off, i.e, grafting, i.e., Kitchener Stitch -- due to having to rework some ending ribbing several times. (Removing grafting is a pain, isn't it??) So, before doing the last bit on this project, I decided this morning to graft the Sidewinder hat I finished before we went to Saint Augustine for our anniversary.     It is slow going. I'm reading blogs as I work it. My hands get sweaty, and I put it down. NOW, I have just realized that although the edge is stockinette (first six stitches) the rest is garter, and I've been grafting on the wrong side to boot! So, the fuzzy yarn I have used, which has been a pain every time I have had to tink'r & r'knit™ and while I was doing the short-rows, is now a blessing in disguise.     The hat is for me, the grafting row will be to the inside, and looks fine right-side out.... that's the rational part of me it trying to control the compulsive part of me that wants to tink'r & r'knit™ it by telling me, "One more stitch, keep stitching. One more stitch, keep stitching."     Doing this grafting, I have found a way to check my place. To make it more like the Tubular Cast-off which I have been doing for DAYS, I put all the live stitches for the seam onto one needle rather than two. So, if the second stitch on the left needle is from the "back needle" stitches, I know that I am in the purl-purl portion of the sequence. If the second stitch on the left needle is a "front needle" stitch, I know that I am in the knit-knit part of the sequence. If my sequence doesn't match up with the stitch placement, I know I made a mistake somewhere a few stitches back. This has been helpful working with this fuzzy, and flimsy yarn as the "back" stitch sometimes seems to disappear and I have actually worked the second and third stitches on the needle together by mistake.     Nice day, considering I've stayed in all day. Hubby is switching between the NASCAR race and XM radio on the dish, old country/western stuff. Windows are open, birds and critters making noise, cats are happy.    ETA: Seam is finished: (I hate the way I look in hats.)     I know the "sidewinder" pattern is lost in the fluff, and the novelty yarn I used in it too, but I had it, I wanted a pink hat, and viola!