No Pics!

In all my rage last night, I left no evidence:  No pictures to remind me of the event.  I guess it will go into the past tense, and I'll make the same mistake again... and again.

Knitting again, folks, so you non-knitters can tune out and go read something else.

Yesterday I thought of my impending trip home and wanted to plan my hours of knitting for the journey.  I'm precariously close to finishing my second sock (Sunshine aka Windward) and thought I might leave the rest of it for the trip.  I cast on a new project last evening to watch a little TV and occupy my hands for the next day or so.  I bought a great book of patterns in Bergen, with C's encouragement.  It's Rowan's organic cotton kid's collection.  What caught our eye was "Sonia, the Cow".

A "must have" project, don't you think?   But instead, I decided to try the "Princess" top for my little girl.  I can't find a picture of the pattern, but the book looks like this:

 Isn't that the cutest top right there?  Not in small enough size for me...
And the yarn is not Rowan, since I couldn't find it in NINE shops... (another story)

Back to last night!  I looked at the pattern, read the first bit, decided to do it in the round rather that back and front as in the pattern, discovered I should leave off the first and last stitch of the front and back to accommodate the stitch pattern (k2, p2, k4 (sometimes cables), p2, k2), and cleverly cast on 120 stitches.  I didn't even use my usual long-tail cast-on, so I didn't have to cast on 3 times (which is my average).  P is sitting across the room knitting away on her East Putney Aran for Grandchildren.

Notice the unwound technique... It was later wound into a ball to fit into her new yarn jar.

I digress (again).
Admiring my work, I thought, hmmm, how is this going to fit?  It certainly wasn't as big as I thought it should be so I started to check the gauge.  (I was a good girl, this time, and had previously made a swatch of stockinette, although the pattern gives gauges for both stockinette and cable.)  I was miffed.  My gauge was big and certainly if I used smaller needles, I'd end up with a smaller garment!  In the past I would call, email or skype my friend, P, for HELP!  This time, she's sitting in the same room, and she's reading the pattern ALOUD to me.  I'm STUNNED!  She says:  Cast on 143, 143, 162, 162, 162 (for all of the sizes, and I say:  Tell me you didn't say 162!  She says indeed: 162.  How many times do we read patterns incorrectly and wonder why they are crazy wrong?  I confessed:  I cast on 60 per side, ignoring the 100, and taking 2 off for the side stitches...  Good night, I say!  And no picture of the frogged hours.  I blame "America's Got (NO) Talent".  Gotta blame something!

But we had the best sweet corn in the world!

Mennonite grown "Fantastic".