I Don't Give A Yarn, Maggie...

....you can't have it! 

It was not the best day for my cat, ANY cat, to try to steal and chew up my yarn...On a good day, we might play with a spare ball..but not today. 

It was one of those "one-step-forward-two steps back" knitting days - or should I say crocheting days..the knitting went well; it was the crocheting that stumped me! 

I was making such great progress on my Carmen Miranda funky tea cosy. I had almost ALL the pieces ready to assemble..I had even found the feathers! Just one more piece left to do - a circle - which should have been easy peasy, but no..it just wasn't working out...my circle that should be flat, was not.

The instructions did not seem right for a flat circle and I REALLY wanted to get this done and done right, so I got on the internet and eventually found a way to contact the author - who responded immediately with the answer-  from Australia! 

Seems that the terms for crochet stitches in Australia, NZ, and the UK are not interchangeable with the ones used in North America!  Who knew? Well, I guess most of the world knew.. but I did not. A double crochet in Australia is not a the same as double crochet in the USA?  Darn! So... all those pieces I had already completed are not the right size?  No wonder my circle would not lie flat... 

And, as the author so gently pointed out, there is a conversion chart in the back of her book. Oops..guess I missed that!  Most embarrassing. Different names for yarn categories and needle sizes I was aware of, but now crochet stitch names have to be converted as well? yikes!

Another lesson learned.... a frustrating one, but now I am one step closer to being able to successfully navigate the complicated international world of knitting and crochet...

Needless to say, I spent a big part of the day trying to get back to where I thought I already was with that darned tea cosy..but just a few more grapes to re-crochet and I will be ready to assemble the parts...

and then perhaps I will let Maggie play with one of the leftover balls! 

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