Alligator Scarf from Knitting Under the Influence of Nancy - Day 5

Gator Wrestling...

That was harder than I thought.  It had that "second sock syndrome" feel, where all the novelty of making alligator bumps wore off and it was just "get it done" persistence that got me through.  Got me through in twice the time I thought it would, by the way.

One trick helped.   I've been rather busy this week with a bunch of book events including book blogger Barbara Vey's reader appreciation luncheon in Wisconsin--look for a Milwaukee episode up next--and the enormous RT Booklovers Convention here in Chicago, so it's been lots of knitting in public.  That's good, because I love promoting the craft, especially with the knitting focus of my upcoming novel HOMEFRONT HERO, but it makes counting hard.  

I adapted by adding stitch markers to the increase points of each bump so that I only had to look for markers instead of counting.  Even with those helps, I only managed about a row of bumps a day, so it took me a week to do the final six rows of bumps instead of the three days I had planned.

Today, as I sit at my table for the gigantic book fair, I look forward to making big headway on the tail.  One of the nicest parts?  Everyone who stops to look at this project it totally charmed by the alligator.  

A charming alligator?  Why not?  Still, I doubt I'll be trying a knitted spider anytime soon.