Even Spell Check Wouldn't Catch It
I have made a lot of mistakes in my lifetime. There are two that stick out in my head, and both have something to do with the word, "Public."
When I was a kid, oh, maybe age 11 or so, we had a school project where we were to create an old newspaper that would be representative of the particular time in history we were studying. We were studying the Old West, you know, that wacky gold rush stuff. I put in some news, lots of news about all the people panning for gold and what have you. And on the other side of the paper, I put in these nifty ads for rooms for rent and penny ice cream cones and public showers, etc.
When I was finished, I carefully burned the edges with a match so it'd have that look of authenticity.
Years later, going through some of my things, I came across the project. The feeling of nostalgia washed over me as I perused the carefully written articles and the cute ads I placed on the back. Oh, so cute, so cute...penny ice cream! So witty, that hand-drawn cartoon, funny funny. And then, my eyes shot over to the Public Showers for Five Cents ad.
Uh oh. I didn't spell "Public" correctly! I spelled it all wrong. It didn't say "Public Showers - 5 cents"! It said, "Pubic Showers - 5 cents"! I left out the "L"!
I don't think the teacher noticed. But years later, when I was working for a publishing company and managed books in the subject of Public Administration (Yeah, I know, a real barn-burner), I had a chance to put together the semi-yearly catalog. Since it was only printed every so often, we were going with a bigger print run than usual. We edited the heck out of the thing, sent it out to the printers, and mailed it to thousands of intellectuals all over the country.
A week later, I had a personal visit from the company president who pointed to the cover: It read, "Titles in Pubic Administration."
So this is my current Karabella thingy. Since I have had such joy using it with the Thankful Pumpkin and the Essential Stripe in two gauges (thanks for all the compliments and pattern purchases), I just had to get some of the Karabella Bulky and give it a shot. Oh my. This stuff is even better than I thought it would be. I'm doing a quickie vest hoodie thing. It is soft, knits up quickly, and let me tell you: This is the type of thing you can start on a Monday and have it ready for the weekend. (At least if you're someone like me who can live with a sink full of dirty dishes and grease-ball hair.)
I am adding the hood this evening, then I'll have to figure out what type of closure to use. I was thinking some wooden buttons and a frog-type thing with a three-strand i-cord. What do you think?
BTW: The whole thing about making mistakes. There is a minor one on the Essential Stripe pattern that has been corrected. This is what it is: In the part about the regular V-Neck, I used PM for both Place Marker and Pass Marker. I should have distinguished between the two by using SM instead of PM in Round 2. Most knitters will catch it and won't experience a problem, but if you want a revised copy and have purchased the pattern within the last 48 hours, you can go back to the download area and download the revised version. If you have any trouble at all, contact me and I'll make sure you get a copy.
That yarn calls to me everytime I am on KPixie! Looking good. I was browsing for yarn tonight to make my Essential Stripe Sweater!
Posted by: Kaity | October 27, 2005 at 04:43 PM
heh. I have a similar history with the word organism. You can guess how it came out in 6th grade while I was reading aloud to my science class. It was disturbing enough that when called upon to say organism, even now, the memory of my 11 year old shame still causes it to come out...wrong.
Posted by: jacey | October 27, 2005 at 04:57 PM
EEEK! I wish I had seen this post a couple of weeks ago because it's EXACTLY what I was hoping to make for my grandmother for christmas - a hoodie vest. Right now I'm winging it based on three different patterns, and while I think it's functional, I don't think it's anywhere as cool looking as this project. Pray tell, what pattern are you using, or is this another original?
Posted by: Jen | October 27, 2005 at 05:58 PM
For a 9th-grade German class essay on "If I Were an Animal, I would be..." I chose "beaver." Didn't know any better.
There are currently 19,300 Google hits for "pubic library." 19,301 now.
Posted by: nichole | October 27, 2005 at 06:31 PM
ahh, the pubic library. :)
[aside: woohoo! i ordered the pattern earlier today and I actually (gasp) have something in stash to use for it. Hooray! thanks for sharing it with us... I'm also thinking about some of that aurora4 for a springtime version... come march/april. :) ]
Posted by: jess | October 27, 2005 at 06:34 PM
I will tell you the most embarrassing thing I have every done. Now that I am a knitter and all it doesn't seem so bad. So I guess this is liberating. I was chairwoman for this big fundraiser garden tour in Beverly Hills. Fortune 500 wives on the board and all that B.S. I decided to host a committee meeting and kick it off with party at the gardens. Half cross-eyed at 2am one morning I typed up the invite. I made 2 major errors on the invite “ A Day of Crochet” & “Wear Crochet Whites. ” R.S.V.P. Voicemail messages came in with snickers and giggles. I was mortified! Hey that is what I like about this group. You all would say where and when? I’ll bring my project. As for the party it was a huge success! There were enough of my fun friends in the group that the mix of people was a kick. We had pimms cup and fine food all served to us by men in coat in tails. On the historic estate lawn we played croquet half looped. Everyone forgot about the crochet blunder except for me. Until this day I beat myself up for it! I have now let it go for good to the knitter ~ crochet world. I am healed!
Posted by: gina L | October 27, 2005 at 07:05 PM
Thank gawd! I thought I was the only one that let the dishes pile high, while I sat and enjoyed endless "interupted" hours of knitting:o)
Your vest is super cute, did you add the motif to the back?
(ooops, sorry about the mistake, I should have caught that for you).
Posted by: ariane | October 27, 2005 at 07:07 PM
I once listed my home telephone number on the marketing profile for a real estate company. Of course, I noticed it after the large-run printing!
Posted by: Gina | October 27, 2005 at 07:08 PM
I like your embarrassing story. I did the exact same thing, same word and everything, but it was for a 3rd year university English essay!! I couldn't believe it. I was totally done, and my fiance wanted to take a look at it to see what I was up to. I have never been so glad that he took an interest in what I was doing!
Posted by: Chrissy | October 27, 2005 at 08:12 PM
love that soon-to-be-hoodie-vest, how fab is that color with the design you have going on. perfection again!
Posted by: jennifer | October 27, 2005 at 08:46 PM
wow, you're on a roll with those designs! that's a clever way to make some more money to buy yarn, come to think of it. wish i had that kind of creativity...keep up the great work!
btw, are those trees or menoras?
Posted by: keohinani | October 27, 2005 at 08:55 PM
on second thought, i'd feel really bad if the design on the front was neither and it was some sort of abstract creative design you came up with that i'm distorting by association. :(
Posted by: keohinani | October 27, 2005 at 08:57 PM
Keohinani! Those things were supposed to be a take on the tattoos the gals were getting like crazy on their lower backs (the design is on the back, and it aligns with a rib--for a butt crack, heh heh--but then it looked like a menora. So HWWV and I were thinking we'd call it the Menora Hoodie.
I then went and looked up a menora. They have nine places for candles, not seven like my motif, here. Oy! (So it is not a menora after all. It is a just tattoo of some sort.)
Hey! Maybe I can call it the Menora-in-a-Hurry Hoodie!
Posted by: wendy | October 27, 2005 at 09:27 PM
Love the hoodie vest, can't wait to see what you do with it.
Years ago, a prominent car dealership took out a full page ad on the back page of one of the sections to announce... You got it... A PUBIC SALE
Posted by: KatieLiz | October 27, 2005 at 09:46 PM
>>Menora-in-a-Hurry Hoodie<<
Heh - You posted while Iwas typing... How about the "Not-Quite-A-Miracle Hoodie?" Or the "Almost-A-Miracle Hoodie?" Or the "Two Candles Short of a Menora Hoodie" OK, that last one was bad. LOL
Posted by: KatieLiz | October 27, 2005 at 10:58 PM
KatieLiz...you CRACK me up...My husband can't stand this hoodie and I can't figure it out. Maybe it lacks that somethin' somethin'?
Anyhow, I'm thinking we should figure out a name for this sucker, glamorous knit or not! I'm lovin' your not-quite-a-miracle-hoodie!
Posted by: wendy | October 27, 2005 at 11:17 PM
I like the bulky hoodie thing alot. i had to take a break from the cardigan to knit some bulky legwarmers because i was feeling so insignificant knitting so slow..
Posted by: uglyagnes | October 28, 2005 at 04:46 AM
"condomints" on a company picnic menu....
Posted by: lisa | October 28, 2005 at 05:34 AM
"condomints" on a company picnic menu....
Posted by: lisa | October 28, 2005 at 05:35 AM
LMAO!
I was also thinking it looked like a menorah.
I have to say that on this one, I am with HWWV. I actually think it is the "mini menorah" part that I don't care for....makes it a bit busy. I LOVE the hoodie thing though and I'd probably make this thing.
On the sock front, I figured out the two circs and am a CONVERT!
As for spelling, I used to be in export and did a lot of documentation for the airlines...I had to program my typewriter because I was always sending shipments on Untied Airlines.
Posted by: Lynae | October 28, 2005 at 06:58 AM
Heya I have a question for you! I was thinking about selling a pattern soon myself, and I was wondering how you deal with it. Do we have to pay taxes on it? I guess if a person made less then $600 a year they would not have to right?
Posted by: pixie | October 28, 2005 at 07:16 AM
As soon as I read the first paragraph, I knew exactly what the mistake was. I work in state government and one of the secretaries here made the same mistake in a brief filed in state supreme court (luckily it wasn't my document), but it was not well received by the powers that be. The hoodie vest is really cute - I'm going to have to try some of that Karabella.
Posted by: Stephanie | October 28, 2005 at 07:49 AM
I laughed as soon as I read the first paragraph! I used to be a legislative analyst with the county council and once got a letter from The Dept of Public Works (yes, that department got their name misspelled a LOT) addressed to me with the title, Legislative Analist! hehe!
Posted by: Sandee | October 28, 2005 at 08:10 AM
I have an answer for Pixie. The $600 limit is whether or not a business has to give a 1099 to a person who is not an employee, but does work for them.
According to IRS rules you need to report the income, but you can also expense materials, etc against that income. If you keep track of your time to create the item, and the materials....my guess is that you would come out pretty even in the end.
Posted by: Lynae | October 28, 2005 at 08:37 AM
Your vest is looking super kool! BTW, that spelling thing, I've never done that, nope, not me, never. . . ;)
Posted by: sedie | October 28, 2005 at 09:20 AM