Don't Be Cocky (and don't do math)

I'm still trudging along on the Shoalwater Shawl feeling pretty good about my progress. According to the directions, I have less than a repeat to go, and so I decided to do a little math to figure out how many rows left that is.

NEVER DO THE MATH for how much you have left to do!!!!

Okay, first the good news: If I only do the 4.5 repeats per the directions, that's only 35 rows left.

That sounded pretty good, actually. I mean, the shawl is almost done, right???

Then I went to do the next row on the shawl. What? I had forgotten to move my row counter, so I did the same right side row twice (and it's corresponding wrong side row), meaning that I had to rip back 2 rows. That's over 800 stitches to TINK. (I didn't want to lose my stitch marker placement and I find getting lace back on the needles from frogging a little dangerous).

So all of a sudden I went from needing only 35 rows, to not only needing 37 rows, but I had to un-knit two rows, which is basically like knitting 2 rows. Hrumph.

Now, the other thing is... I was looking at my Landscape Shawl*, and the top measurement (as I want the Shoalwater to be bigger than the Landscape) and realized that 4.5 repeats is not going to make me happy. I will be adding an other repeat. So, if I were to do the math (which I'm not, as it curses my knitting) that would mean instead of 35 rows left (as I've already unknit and corrected the mistake, so I'm back to only 35 rows left), I would have 82 rows left. Oh, and let's not forget that adding an other repeat is going to add an other 96 stitches.

So I'm looking forward to something different... like Fawne. Can't wait for the start of the Tour de France KAL, so I can get to work on that. I need something that's not over 400 stitches across!!!! (I'm working on basically three projects: The Summer Braids Cardigan, Maria (the Berroco skirt) and the Shoalwater Shawl... all three have about 400 stitches on the needles. I might need to do a little project diving just for something small just as a break!!!!

Summer Teaching Schedule:

So I'll be teaching two classes this summer at Olde Peddler Wools, a Yarn 101 class (July 14 10-12am) and a finishing class (Aug 18 10-12am). The Yarn 101 class is going to cover the basics. The idea behind the class is learning the different weights of wool, the importance of gauge (and how it's different for everyone) and some tricks to help successfully substitute yarn. We'll decipher all those funky symbols on the yarn label. The Finishing class will be about seaming (with an emphasis on the mattress stitch), how to think about finishing before you even cast on and weaving in ends. If interested, just give Darlene a call or drop into the shop.

*Okay, as I went thru my gallery looking for the finished photo for the Landscape Shawl I realized how sadly out of date my site is. My sidebar needs updating as does my finished gallery. Let's not even think about the WIP gallery. I don't think that will EVER be up to date!!!!