An eureka moment

Sometimes you can't see the forest from the trees.

For a week now, I've been cursing, moaning and whining to myself as I try to figure out a knitting pattern. I'm knitting a hat for a friend and for the life of me I couldn't figure out how to shape the top of the hat. I searched Ravelry for answers. There are more than 100 people who have knitted the hat that I'm knitting, all of whom say it is an easy hat pattern. If it was so easy, I thought as I was doing my research, then why the heck can't I figure it out? Until today, I was almost going to give up, accuse the pattern designer and those who knitted said pattern of a massive conspiracy and come up with my own shaping design.

I even called a friend, a fellow knitter, for insight. It is kind of hard to discuss knitting problems over the phone when you both haven't knitted the same pattern. So today, while I had some friends over and I was about to discuss my problem with my knitting friend, I stared at the pattern once more and the answer suddenly came to me. There was nothing wrong with the pattern. I just hadn't clued in what the pattern was telling me.

Boy, do I ever feel dumb. The answer was right there. I just was fixated on something that wasn't even an issue. Now the hat is on its way to be completed before winter. Sometimes I guess you just can't see the forest from the trees, even though the forest is staring right at you.