Lost And Found

I was absolutely positive that I had started a little white baby hat months ago. I had made myself a "starter kit." Sometimes I find out with short notice that a daughter is in need of a baby hat for a friend. So I figured if I had one already cast on and ready to knit, I'd be ahead of the game. And a white hat—a gender neutral color. I was totally ready.

Until I wasn't. When I found out that the next baby is due in a few weeks, I was feeling smug because I knew there was my "starter kit," ready for me to pick up and finish. When I went to get it, I couldn't find it. No white baby hat. I did some serious searching through my knitting stuff.

Then I did some deeper digging through more obscure places I might have stashed it. I actually pulled out every bag I had with a work-in-progress (or a yarn/pattern combo) in it and opened them all. I even wrote down what was in each bag...pattern name, yarn color, needle size...and made a list so that I would know what was here. No white baby hat. I looked through the empty project bags, hoping I had mixed up the empties with the work-in-progress ones. I did find a pair of prescription sunglasses that I had "lost" at the Georgia knitting retreat back in the spring. Kind of made the search worthwhile. But still, no white baby hat.

After I looked through purses and suitcases, I pulled those bags out again and lined them up in the floor with every one of them open so that I could see them all at once. No white baby hat. I waited a week, thinking it would miraculously appear. That does happen sometime.

Then I waited one more week (I didn't want to give up too quickly) before deciding that maybe I hallucinated about casting on the little hat. Maybe I only thought that would be a brilliant idea but I never really did it. So I did give up and ordered white yarn. And although, there's plenty of yarn here, I didn't have any white. That was actually the color requested for this baby. I knew I needed to start this little hat.

The new white yarn arrived this week and I cast on yesterday. Took this quick little project to the library knitting group yesterday and worked on a few rounds there. One of the younger knitters finished her first sock while we were knitting. I promised her that I would look through my stash of yarn here at home and bring her some sock yarn for another pair. I have plenty enough to share. So when I came home, I headed straight to my yarn bins, before I forgot, to see what Holly might like.

And you know what I found, don't you? Yep. There is was. Right smack in front of me. There was ONE bin on the cubbies where I store yarn that didn't have yarn in it. It held some random bags. The cute gray and red bag on top had the pre-started white baby hat. Why that bin was never pulled out, I can't tell you. The second white hat will not go to waste, though. I always am needing one more baby gift.

But REALLY? I had told Daddy-O while I looked that the sure way to find that hat was to buy the yarn again. I was joking. And then, maybe I wasn't.