Sunday, March 22, 2009

Always Read The Directions! (A Felted Bunny Update)

Sometimes something seems so obvious that you're sure you are right- so sure you'd bet the house on it.  So sure that you don't even want to take an extra minute and read the directions that the very thoughtful designer of a pattern put in there. (Perhaps for a reason?)

But what does it really hurt to take an extra minute to read the directions? (Even if it's just to affirm that you really do know all there is to know about piecing the front, back, and two feet of a knit rabbit together.)

But when you've done this before and there are only 4 measily pieces- why take the extra minute (literally) to read the few lines of type after the last row in the pattern? (The designer did go through the trouble of telling you something she clearly thought you needed to know- so why not art least be courteous and read it. After all,  it's only a minute.)

A minute that turns out could have saved loads of time later... 

After knitting and piecing several bunnies together and (amazingly) remarking after each one how "the feet didn't seem so hard to attach last time" or how "these just don't look right" I finally, finally read the directions and discovered that I am indeed doing it wrong (Very wrong). And now I will have to rip out the seaming for the feet on all of the previously "completed" bunnies.

Reading the directions could have saved me from sewing the seam on the bottom of each foot first instead of last. When the pattern said "Position the cast off edge of one foot along the end of one leg" (right there in black and white).  I could have done that- instead of attaching the foot a completely different way (which turns out to be sideways).

If I had read the directions all of my rabbits would have looked like this- 

See how nice the feet attach to the legs and lay flat.

Instead of this- 


See where I have pulled the stitches in a weird way. Incidentally, I needed to that in order to actually get the feet to fit on. (And shouldn't this have been my first clue?)

Yet, I went on to attach more feet like this- what was I thinking!?!


While I am ripping the seams of these feet out I will be thinking about how in the future I will always, always read the directions.

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