New Sweater!

Before Christmas I fell in love with KnitPicks Fogarty Creek Blazer. I was busy working on Christmas presents so I promised myself as soon as Christmas was over I'd cast it on for myself. 

We went to my parent's house the weekend after Christmas and I brought this sweater. I excitedly cast on and worked the first ten rows of stockinette. Then I got to the chart. I've been knitting for a few years, but charts are still very new and very confusing. I spent much of the night trying to figure out what all of those stupid symbols meant and why they'd put symbols in the key that were close to what was on my chart, but not exactly. My family tried to figure it out, but nothing worked. The next day I woke up with the flu and decided to put the sweater on hold in favor of the 13.5" of stockinette on the purple monster. After a month the purple monster was dead finished. (Although it still needs sleeves, but we're ignoring that.) I had a quick gift come up, more will come on that after it's been given, and then I was free to start this sweater again.

During my illness I occasionally studied the chart and discovered I was trying to read it sideways. Now that I knew how to hold the chart I figured I was home free. (Insert crowd laughter here.) I got a few inches and my knitting looked like this. (It's hard to see in the picture, but that horseshoe shaped piece at the end is supposed to form a nice little oval.)

I ripped it out. I questioned my intelligence as a knitter and my self worth (kept thinking of all of those little children that have historically learned to knit before reading who would be able to handle this.) Assured my husband that I really do love knitting and he can't throw away my yarn. Thought some more about those stupid little kids and then realized my error. Those children (at least the ones in my mind) learned knitting before reading so they didn't question reading a chart right to left. Unlike those brilliant little children I've been reading since before I can remember so I automatically started at the left of the chart. I grabbed a fresh skein of yarn, started at the right side of the pattern (at least I've been starting at the bottom of the chart since the beginning so I can avoid ripping everything out a third time) and now my sleeve looks like this.

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