What I know about knitting

I learned to knit at the knee of my maternal grandmother when I was a child. When I was in my late teens-early 20s I knitted lots of items. Including a complex cable vest for a boyfriend and an amazing sweater for my husband (not the same person). Sadly, then-husband didn't like the sweater, so it was gifted to the father-in-law, and that marked a rather significant lack of interest in knitting for quite some time.

20-year-old me knitting the boyfriend's vest

A few weeks ago I decided to knit a scarf. As I struggled with the creation (as evidenced below) I found myself being reminded that when I haven't been doing a certain sewing/crafting technique for some time it takes me a while to get back into the swing of it. And, by the time I'd finished, with various errors along the way, I recalled all I know about the technique of knitting.

The finished, albeit short, scarf

So, this is what I know about knitting...

Do not use thick/thin textured yarn when knitting an intricate pattern.
You can see (photo above) that the pattern is not very recognisable - I couldn't visually check my progress to ensure the stitches were correct. 

Check the tension before you start knitting to ensure the item will be the correct size/length.
My scarf was 15cm too short - which was enough to mean that the cowl could not be linked over my head to be doubled.

Do not knit in low light, with the television on and/or needy children around.
I frequently lost my counting, and found myself 'knitting backwards' (undoing stitches) to an error that occurred near the beginning of the row of 110 stitches

So, with all that in mind I pulled it all undone. 

Now you see it, now you don't

The luscious, textured red yarn will be used to create a scarf with a simple pattern, and the beautiful yarn can become the hero.

Today I purchased un-textured yarn and larger size needles, I will do a tension check and I will stitch this pattern during the day when the kids are at school, and the sun is shining. The good news is that this pattern does knit up very quickly, and by the end if this week I should have a new cowl.