More Than I Can Chew?

Perhaps I have bitten off precisely that much. It seems so at the moment, but isn't that how it always seems to go when you are starting a new skill? Well, sometimes it does, anyway. I can't hope for them all to go as well as Fair Isle, or cables, or knitting and purling, right?

Maybe it has something to do with the fact that I actually decided to swatch for once. I know, right? ME, SWATCH? ha ha HA - I laugh in the face of swatches! I tried 3 different lace patterns. I tried various numbers of stitch combinations. Then I finally broke out the good yarn to do a real swatch. (Yes, you heard me, I swatched in my substitute yarn first, because I didn't want to stress out my good silk/merino blend - SO I really swatched like, a BUNCH) Here's what that looked like when I finally got it to work.



I can't quite remember how many tries it took to get it right for the swatch. I did one full pattern repeat. (even though I didn't repeat it, so can I really call it a repeat?) The pattern is done in a multiple of 16 stitches, so I did 6 panels of 16. Here's what the picture looks like in the book.

What I did looked mostly like that, I only made one mistake in the swatch, which was one extra YO on row 4 or 6 or something. I think I was row four.

The swatch turned out to measure an estimate of about 16 inches wide, so I figured, if I double that and wind up with an end product that measure 32 inches, I'll be pretty much spot on for a decent sized stole.

So I ripped out the swatch, and cast on my 192 stitches, or 16 stitches times 12 panels. Of course there was generous use of stitch markers, I HAVE learned that lesson already in my almost lace projects from the past. It's much easier to count to 16 from the beginning of a stitch marker, than it is to have to go all the way back to stitch one and count to 16 over and over and keep track of which panel you have counted etc, etc, etc....

There was only one problem with that. Somewhere along the way, these last couple of years, I seem to have misplaced most of my small stitch markers, so I was using some of my pretty dangly ones along with the regulars and then I proceeded to knit them into my project. I didn't see myself do it, and I don't know how it happened, but then everything went wonky and I had to rip it out.

So I started again, and got to about row 3 or so and I thought I had too many stitches, then I thought I had the right number and then I knitted a stitch THROUGH a stitch marker (still not sure about that one either) and then I DROPPED a stitch over a YO (of COURSE) and everything sorta fell apart. = (

More ripping ensued and yes the OH SO lovely silk/merino dream yarn is started to get MAD. I'm fine, but the yarn is angry, so - I'm giving it a little rest, with my stitch markers of various sizes. Secretly I'm hoping if they sleep this way tonight, they'll both wake up in a better mood tomorrow.

PS - I'm aware that I haven't yet showed the cabled hats, and MAYBE I'll do that tomorrow or something. One of the hats I made is already lost at school. (RATS) SO, you'll just have to imagine that one when I show the pics of the others. I just HAD to blog this bit of...whatever this is... triumph/tragedy, now while it was fresh. BLAST (you gotta say it with a British accent or it doesn't sound right)