A Little Test and Good Counting Gone Bad

This yarn will become a lovely new shawl - well, mostly the right-hand ball, with just a little of the light peach Centrolavaggi as accent. (That over 1500 yard behemoth has a few projects in its future.) This shawl is knit (yes, folks, it was time for a knitting project), and it's a test.

So, I took the yarnie photos a little while ago, and started in on the test. It's just my kind of knit shawl pattern - a little bit of lace for accent, and lots of knit and purl. I do knit and purl. I do a little lace. Clearly, however, I cannot count.

This is a bottom-up shawl, so of course one must cast on a gazillion stitches. Stitch markers at the ready, I easily cast on the requisite gazillion stitches. I used my favorite cast on method (cable) and I quite enjoyed it. I then worked the first row to perfection. Excellent. Pump winning fist in the air.

And then I got to the second row, which is just a minor variation of the first row - and the variation is in pattern stitch count. Well you know I got to the end of the row and was off. I went back and checked my stitches, and they looked fine. I thought I'd complete the next row (a repeat of the first row) and see if I couldn't catch and fix my mistakes on the return. Not only did I not find my errors, but I was off even more on the pattern stitch count on the third row.

What? I am decent at math. I write patterns that work, dammit. Why oh why could I not get in the groove with the beginning of this pattern? It seems that once off on stitch count, the bad stitch counting just got worse and worse, like scratching a mosquito bite or watching an out-of-control pile up on the interstate.

Yes, I did eventually get an accurate stitch pattern count. Don't ask about the foul-language glut to be found in the immediate area. I managed to corner that market all by my little ole self. I should have this shawl completed by the end of the month and it's a pretty pattern, so be on the lookout.

Now's the time to check in with Andrea over at Wisdom Begins in Wonder and see what everyone else is working on (and hopefully their stitch counting efforts are better than mine).

And don't forget - next week is the 4th Annual Knitting and Crochet Blogging Week. The daily subject prompts have been posted, as well as the post tags and a neat little poll. You know I'll be taking part, and I hope all of you will too.