Pause. Rewind. Repeat.

I started the next chart of Black Rose.  I was very excited to plan the new markers I would place.  The pattern is four ever-increasing quadrants.  I already had the quadrants marked, but now I was planning to mark out the repeats within each quadrant, in a different color.  All of this marking is designed to create breaks within each row, to make the time more doable in one child-free sitting.  Right now, each pattern row is about 15 minutes to complete, but that is going to increase exponentially as the pattern rows continue to increase by 8 stitches each row.  At some point, it is going to take so long to complete one row, it will significantly limit the knitting opportunities.  So I am putting in breaks, where I can stop knitting, put it down, and easily pick up again, within a single row. 

That is the plan, at least.  I quickly ran into a sticky wicket.  I was short stitches on the first quadrant.  Significantly short of stitches.  This was not good at all. 

I stared at the knitting.  I stared at the pattern.  I counted stitches, re-counted, and re-re-counted.  Just when I was starting to picture frogging down to my lifeline (15 rows), I realized my mistake.  I had anticipated a row.  I had completed row 42, then the purl row, and counted that as the last row on the chart.  It still took  some adjusting on the first quadrant, which had been knitted and frogged within an inch of its twist, but I managed to successfully complete Row 44. 

Ok, so NOW I am ready to move to the next chart. 

Whew!  That was a close one.  I was dangerously close to flinging Black Rose across the room.  I did say some nasty things to it, and it wasn't until I had apologized that I was able to figure out my error.  User error.  Honest, Rose, you didn't do anything wrong, and I didn't mean it when I called you a mangled pile of rubbish.  You are lovely, and only grow lovelier with each row. 

Today, it is all about the insults and the apologies. 

(P.S.  And while I am at it, I apologize to Mother Nature as well.  Really, I wasn't being critical of winter.  It is a wonderful season.  Now, can you please make all that snow go away, and bring on spring?  Pretty please? )