See the pretty chemo cap?

No? You sure? You looked really really hard? Hmmm, then it must not be there. Funny, since I FINISHED it last night ... how could I possibly be back on row 6?
This is one of those stories I'd rather forget: how I knitted an entire hat in Berroco Chinchilla, got down to my last six stitches on three needles, threaded the leftover yarn on a tapestry needle to run it through the last stitches and ... they weren't there. The needles had slipped out. And the yarn is SO furry that I could not find the stitches.
Probably, there was a way to salvage my work then. But instead, I pulled out a few rows to see if I could find them better below. (These are decrease rows at the top of the hat, so of course every row I pull out means MORE stitches to (not) find.)
I cannot see any stitches among the dark blue fur. I try picking them up anyway, but have no idea what I'm getting, and I can't believe I'll ever get them all. I pull out some more rows, and the problem seems to grown insurmountably large. I whine and cry to my husband, who is suitably sympathetic, and pull out the entire hat.
I'm SO annoyed with myself! And I hate my slippery clanky metal size 8 needles. Hated them anyway for the way they clankety-clanked the whole way through; hate them more now for losing my stitches.
The yarn is lovely and soft, even if it does release a fine mist of blue fibers that tickle my nose and coat my clothes. I'm hoping the ripping and re-knitting will not reduce it to a scraggly mess. I also seem to have gotten the whole hat (at least last time) out of one ball, so I'm hoping the store will take the other one back, or at least exchange it for a different color (or some wooden needles?) I can't possibly face the trauma of reknitting this hat AGAIN.
*sigh*
It probably would have been a good moment to take up serious drinking.

p.s.
I'll post a picture as soon as there is more of it to see ...