Forecasting

Lace work requires attention.  It's not like stockinette or garter or even cabling that can be done while doing something else.  It also uses ridiculously thin yarn and small needles.  I'm out of my comfort yarn weight.  I've spent hours on the project now and only have 12 rows to show for it!  12 rows!  I'm screwed.

I'm still holding on to the idea that establishing the first pattern is slow going but the repeats after will fall into place.  I've already:
1. Dropped a stitch - couldn't find it so just made it up (hope that doesn't bite me later)
2. Skipped a stitch - so that I got to the end of the row and had an extra stitch left over
3. Absorbed a stitch - so that I got to the end of the row and was short a stitch

Granted I'm only 4 rows into the pattern (the other 8 rows were just garter).  But I haven't started over yet, just a lot of tinking.  A friend of mine gave me a heads up about the nupps.  Her advise was to knit them extra extra loose.  I did.  They weren't loose enough.  But I was damn if I was going to tink back yet again to reknit them looser.  Instead, brilliant that I am, I picked up an even smaller dp needle and use it quasi cabling style to purl the nupps when working back past them.  It worked - I got the row done by Park street station on my way in.  Hence why you see three needles in the picture above.

So it is looking better.  I think I've gotten through the rough spots, most of them.  I keep reminding myself that when I've done lacework in the past, you can read the pattern and check as you go along, catching errors almost immediately.  I should know by friday if this theory is indeed correct.  Fingers crossed.

I am thinking I should look into how the life-line works.  So if I do drop any more stitches it doesn't cause irreversible damage and cause me to run screaming from the room pulling my hair out.

Back to the forecasting.  Looking at this week, I have the following knit time:
- Thursday: 3 hours (unfortunately have a meeting that I'm running tonight so can't sit and knit)
- Friday: 2 hours commute time + 3 hours in the evening (no plans - yay)
- Saturday:  10 hours (figuring 4 hours for feeding myself, chores, grocery shopping and vet appt)
- Sunday: 12 hours (figuring I'll just need 2 hours for non-knitting stuff)

So maybe, just maybe, I'll get my two pattern repeats done by the time my head hits the pillow Sunday night.  I've got Netflix cued up, I've been cableless so have a backlog of shows to watch on hulu, I've just updated my podcast subscriptions and rumor has it the humidity and heat will break friday night.  Wish me well.