Cabling trauma, or, How To Give Yourself a Heart Attack at 6AM

1. 5:00 AM. Wake up early, probably from having had too much coffee the night before. Think to self, "I know that I'm halfway through the hood on my Rogue ... if I get cracking now, then I'm sure I can finish it by the time the kids get up."

2. Realize that you're already delusional with unrealistic expectations, but ignore it and still think you can do it.

3. Start row 30 on your Rogue hood ... only 50 more to go.

4. 5:30 AM. Make about eight rows of progress when you realize that you made a mistake ...

... about eight rows ago. The same mistake you made in the armpit. Wonder silently (the kids are sleeping, after all) if a mistake on the hood is more noticeable than a mistake in the armpit.

5. 5:35 AM. After reasoning with yourself over the last question, think to yourself, "If I only rip out those center four stitches, I'm sure that I can go back and fix it without doing all of those rows over again."

6. 5:36 AM. Start ripping out the stitches. Realize that in order to get those stockinette stitches uncrossed, you'll have to rip out just a few more stitches.

(insert photo 2)

7. Rip out all of the stitches that are in the hood cable here. Don't swear to yourself, at least not too loudly, because you don't want to wake up the kids.

8. Wonder what row you're really on. Pretend to know, and start to re-knit, given the long strands that you have across the back.

(photo 3)

9. 5:45 AM. Pour yourself a second cup of coffee. Keep going.

10. 6:00 AM. Pretend that you don't hear the 3-year-old when she wakes up. Keep going. You know you can finish it!

(photo 4)

11. 6:10 AM. Pretend that you don't hear the 5-year-old either when he demands chocolate milk. You better be able to do it!

12. 6:15 AM. Finish the cables. Breathe a heavy sigh of relief. Get the kiddos their first-thing-in-the-morning-milk. Drink a third cup of coffee.

(last photo)

Eight rows down ... only 42 more to go. That is, after you do the other side of the hood, with the same mistake.

(And no, I still haven't done the other side yet.)

(And yes, the smarter thing would have been to just rip those silly old eight rows out.)

(And if you can't see the photos for some reason, like I really can't figure out right now why the first picture loaded but the others didn't, feel free to visit my blog, from which I shamelessly copied this entire entry. I just felt like it was time to update the cable-along.)