Irish Braid Hat

This is typical Etherknitter.

1.  Knit the bottom band for this lovely hat, the Irish Braid Hat.  Approximately four inches into this, wonder if I should have used a provisional cast-on.  Spend several days deciding if I wanted to rip it out to do so.  Finally said, naw, I can graft as instructed,  and figure this out when the time comes.
2.   Finish band, and realize several concurrent facts.  First, the instructions say, "graft".  (Gee, thanks.)  Second, the pattern is a knit-purl, obligatorily because of the cables.  Third, one of the ends is a cast-on row, and will never look the same as the knit-purl side.  So no way there would EVER be a seamless, invisible match unless my provisional cast on had mirrored the knit-purl stitch pattern.  This makes me happy that I did not rip out the work and do the provisional idea.
3.   Cruise the internet looking for good knit-purl grafting tips.  Collect several, and promptly lose them in my continuous, ever growing daily email stream.  Vow to collect them at some point.  (This has not happened yet.)
4.   Contemplate a three-needle bind-off.  Wonder about the resulting ridge, and if it would drive me nuts.  Consider another non-grafty, non three needley- technique that I cannot even recall for the blog.  
5.   Spend an entire year (four seasons) with the work sitting on the floor, collecting dust and stray hairs.  
6.   Realize that it took THAT LONG to decide that I could live with a hat that was supposed to be seamless, but would have a recognizable demarcation that I would have to always think about and put at the back of my head.
7.   Look at the two edges (a paltry 28 stitches each side), and decide that there were not enough purl stitches to be worth researching the knit-purlness of grafting. 
8.   Decide that a standard stockinette kitchener join would be just fine.
9.   Wonder why it took me a year to get here.  Then realize that the reason there will be closure is because I need a hat.
10.   Sit down, and pull up the grafting instructions on the computer.
11.   Wait until the weekend for presence of brain so that I can do the deed.
12.   Start the deed this morning, after tea, after coffee, after a good night's sleep.
13.   Get ten stitches into the work and realize, son a beech, I am grafting a mobius and not a band.
14.   Berate self for not paying enough attention.  Rip out the stitches.  Get back to the beginning.  Put it down.  Go do chores and shoulds.
15.   I will finish the band.  Really.  REALLY.

Comments

[gayle]

Hugs. You can do this!

[diane]

Heck, at this point I'd finish it for you and suggest the possibility of wearing it as a headband style if your ears are cold :) Pretty color!

[Ruth]

This situation is mirrored in every UFO bag sitting in "time out" in my closet.

[Guernseygal]

Take heart. I have just ripped an entire shawl and cast it on again, because the test knit took too much yarn. I was in denial and finished it hoping it would be under my self appointed limit. It is not. Not even close. So here I am having cast on 550+ sts starting again with a revised pattern and smaller needles. These early rows are so damned long...

[Carole]

We've all been there with one project or another. My advice is just sit down and get it done.

[claudia]

Do it now.

[Elaine in NYC]

What Claudia said!

[Caroline M]

"Finished is better than perfect" Discuss.

Also - what Claudia said.

[margene]

Yes, what Claudia said! You're running out of time, darlin'. Think snow!