You have to be smarter than the thing you are operating

A few weeks ago I ordered and received my Denise Interchangeable Knitting Needles. I was soooooo excited I could hardly wait to start new projects because I have just about every size and length of strait or round needle I need. Yesterday I decided to get started on my Charmed Knits hat. So I pulled out my trusty interchangeable needle kit and started to piece together the size and length I needed, so I thought. Well I took out the smallest length of cord and attached it to the size needle the pattern called for. Once I learned that the circular measurement is from needle tip to needle tip not just the cord, I had a problem. The problem was the length was 24" and I needed only 16". As you can imagine I was thoroughly bummed because I didn't have the needle length I needed and my happy little dream of not having to buy needles for a very long time was crushed. So needles to say I didn't get to start my new project. This morning I was still very disappointed that the kit didn't have everything like I thought it did. So I opened the kit again and stared at it and stared at it, put needles on all the lengths of cord in hopes that some magical force was at work and they would end up being the size I needed. No luck. So I pulled out the directions in hopes that it could shed some light on things. The directions say that you can make lengths of 17" to 58". I am now baffled at why I can't get my needles to 17", which I figure is close to what I need. So I stare some more and would you believe, there was a smaller cord hidden with the longest cord. I had mistaken the two cords for one long cord. Now my faith is restored and I know I have made an excellent investment. I am off to start my new project and hope to have it done in time to send it to Charmed Knits.