Recipe Testing

Knitting something new is so much fun. Something without a pattern, like the Black Forest Hat below. I don't like patterns. Not because they're bad or ugly — I simply find them confining. Even though the designer may have a million more knitterly chops than I do. Patterns make me break out in hives and grab for the nearest bottle of hooch, especially when it comes to armhole shaping. (I really have a complex about armhole shaping!) Although I try not to follow patterns, I always feel compelled to chart out what I've just knit. Why? For posterity? I'll never knit the same thing twice, because I knit for the adventure and joy of seeing nothing but yarn and an idea turn into something, not the final something itself. The exception may be this Black Forest Hat. I love the way it curves around the face, and the undulations of color. I can't say I made up the stitch pattern entirely, but it's enough of a Frankenstein to name it anew: Evergreen Lace. I suppose I like to chart out my designs for the same reason I write down impromptu recipes: a record of a nifty accomplishment. I give projects away as fast as I knit them, so, unlike my stuffed unfinished object bin, the finished object bin is quite bare, and therefore a poor record of skills, etc. learned.