Some Kind of Fluke

Today I'm knitting a hat which is supposed to resemble a sea creature.  I have a swell drawing of the thing I'm trying to make.  I learned when doing the drawings that just because I can imagine something doesn't mean I can draw it.  Turns out that just because I can draw something doesn't mean I can knit it, either.  Go figure.

Another lesson I'm getting:  Sea creatures are not sweaters.  I had no idea I was stuck in a rut, but it seems to have happened.  I keep wanting to knit the same shapes I always do for garments:  Bell-shaped sleeve cap, cylindrical body tube, rounded neck hole, etc.  None of those pieces (which my body seems to want to knit no matter what my head is telling it) are going to yield a hat that looks like a critter.  I have to turn off the autopilot and think.  This must be really good for me, because it's kinda hard.

I've been looking at photos (thanks, Internet!) to try and immerse myself in the architecture of creatures.  It's helping, a bit, but my real problem is figuring out where increases and decreases go to make natural-looking animal shapes.  It's not intuitive.  And getting it wrong means lots of frogging.  This must be really good for me, because it's kinda hard.

Also, nature loves symmetry, so I have to do lots of things in matched pairs.  Which is fine, except it means that I have to write down each step with extremely painstaking precision in order to repeat (and possibly reverse) it for the other side of whatever thing I making.  And if it's wrong, I tear out that page and start all over again.  There is almost as much paper on the floor as there is yarn, which is saying something.

But don't worry; I'm doing my best to figure it all out so you don't have to.  By which I mean, when you pick up my new book and decide to knit a hat that looks like a sea creature, I want it to be as fun and easy for you as possible, with all the tricks already sorted out.  This must be really good for me, because it's kinda hard.