I found out what I was doing wrong!!!!
I had the wrong yarn.
I finished the "Toad Suck Tie" better known now as the "T0ad Suck Belt." It has a uniform dimension of 3" across from square end to pointy end. Hm... This just isn't right. Pat did try it on and tied it. He said the cotton yarn wasn't working. It wasn't slippery enough for the knot to slide into position against his neck.
So we went looking for slippery yarn at Yarn Heaven, in Arlington, Texas. I thought silk, but the women at the store found us a beautiful, stretchy shiny SOCK yarn called Opal. Pat chose Barney purple. He knows it will compete wonderfully with Spongebob Squarepants.
I always thought sock yarn was the same as fingering yarn. No way. This yarn is tiny, tiny. And lo, and behold. When I went back to the Toad Rock Tie pattern, what does she ask for? Opal Sock Yarn.
14 stitches in fingering yarn on size 1 needles came out about 3" wide.
13 stitches in Opal sock yarn on size 1 needles is about 1" wide. Hm... there's a clue here.
I'm back to the Toad Rock Tie pattern. Bet it works now.

Toad Suck Tie -- make that Belt

The tie did not get made for Father's Day. It has had about 3 different incarnations. After Pat and I got to talking about how thick the Toad Rock Tie would be when finished and tied into a knot, I gave up on that pattern and frogged back to the beginning -- on the Friday before Father's Day.

The Toad Rock Tie is still my inspiration, but it is knitted in the round, giving the entire tie a double thickness of fabric. I'm knitting with sport-weight yarn. That means the bottom of the tie is two thicknesses of sport-weight and so is the top. Who knows how many layers of fabric will be wound around in the knot. I'm afraid Pat would never be able to lower his head because of the size of the knot.

SO... as I said, the Toad Rock Tie is my inspiration, but I'm designing the Toad Suck Tie, named for one of Pat's favorite places, Toad Suck, Arkansas. This tie is a single thickness of garter stitch 14 stitches wide. After I reach 90 cm. I'll go back to the Toad Rock pattern and see how Celeste created the swell for the pointed end of the tie. I'll borrow from her and adjust a bit here, change a a bit there, and finish the Toad Suck Tie. Hopefully, by July 4.

Toad Rock Tie

Where Pat works, supervisors must wear a tie. He and another man are vying for most outrageous ties. Fabian may be ahead on points. He wears Spongebob Squarepants, Homer Simpson and other cartoon characters, but Pat will have the ONLY hand knit tie.

Celeste from Knitting Beyond the Hebrides was kind enough to share her pattern with me. http://www.knittingbeyondthehebrides.org/color.html I'm making it of Omega's Sinfonia yarn (100% cotton, made in Mexico). It is a varigated blue in color. The yarn is sport weight and resembles thick embroidery thread. I have a bit of trouble with the yarn splitting as I knit with size 1 needles. If the needles were larger, it probably wouldn't have the problem. Two weeks to go -- wow! Did you know neckties are about five feet long???? That's a lot of little tiny stitches!