Check Your Gauge: It's More Important Than You Think

    One of the gifts I made for my family for Christmas was a raccoon hat for my father.  I was having a good time working one it, watching cartoons as I went, and it wasn't until I was completely finished with it that I really took a good look at it.  Something seemed off.
     It was really, really big.  I couldn't understand why.  I counted rows and looked at stitches, and as far as I could tell I had followed the pattern to a T.  So what had gone wrong?  Sadly, I had no time to fix it.  So it got wrapped, and I prayed for the best.
     Naturally, it didn't fit.  As a matter of fact, I don't think it fits any human alive.  I consulted my mother, still unable to see where I had gone wrong, and she asked me if I had checked my gauge.
     ........
     No.  No of course I didn't check my gauge.  I frantically flipped back to the beginning of the pattern and there it was.  The gauge that I had scanned right over.  Mentally banging my head against the wall, I realized that there was only one thing I could do.
     Make an entirely new hat.  It took longer than what I had planned, but I have finally gotten there.  Over the weekend, I finished it, and this time it actually it fits a real human being!
     Note to self; check gauge in the future.  It is very, very important.