Having all your materials
When I started this sweater I really thought there would be a lot more knitting before I was going to actually need the beads. I was so wrong. I got to a stitch in my chart marked with a little star. "What was that stitch again?" Legend reads: Place bead. "Well, darn." I got online and ordered some beads from a seller just a couple of towns over, saying to myself "they'll be here by the weekend, no problem." The seller was fantastic and got them in the post early the next morning, but, by Saturday night, they still hadn't arrived.
What's a knitter to do on a Sunday, the day when your mother-in-law expects you over for dinner, and your husband plans to watch a very important Giants game with her, and you know, without a shadow of a doubt, that if you don't have knitting for this baseball game, you are going to lose your mind, and you can't knit without those darn beads? Go to the nearest giant craft store, of course. It's not my first choice, crowded, noisy, and overwhelmingly perfumed with holiday candles and pine cones. This time, they saved the day; they had exactly what I needed.
Thankfully, I'd remembered while at the store that I would also need a crochet hook for the actual placing. Can you imagine if I had gotten to my mother-in-law's without it? I watched a video about placing beads with a crochet hook on YouTube and felt confident that I could move forward.The hook is tiny and goes right through the bead, then you just pull the stitch through, stick it back on the needle, and knit it like normal. Watch the video, it's so easy. Maybe a little fiddly, and I would definitely recommend doing it at a table, but do-able and didn't make me cry even a little.
There you see it, a perfectly placed bead, and no tears. I lost 3 days of knitting time over that little bead. So I learned two lessons this week; how to place beads with a crochet hook and to have all your materials when you start your project!
I'd love to hear how you learned your lessons. If you have a story to share, leave it in the comments below.