Another knitting project!

This is Yumiko!  Isn't she the cutest!!!

 

Yep!  I'm at it again!  I think I just like to torture myself or tax my little brain!  I do so love Yumiko Alexander's patterns.  Her tops are so comfy to wear with a T or even a turtle neck.  So far I've made two - Whitecaps and Agave.  So figured I'd do another one....isn't the saying 'all good things come in threes'??  Or did I just make that up!  Regardless, this is the pattern I am working on (and I use the term 'working on' loosely!).  

I knitted Whitecaps in white and Agave in navy (Pacific Blue).  This is lavender in Silk+.  I like the light shade of purple and think it will look good - after I find a nice necklace to go with it!  Which I may have!  Read below what I found!

I started winding my yarn like a good little knitter! Yep, still using my antique thread storage unit.  It works so good.   HA  

I then marked my pattern for the size I wanted.  Yes, I did struggle, as usual, getting the right gauge but I finally decided on size #8 needle.

And I was on a roll!  Until I wasn't!  Yikes!  The pattern is well written, as are all Yumiko's patterns.  My problem was counting the stitches for each of the rows (you go between 188-190 - one row increased and next row decreased).  

The yarn is quite thin and my problem was either not counting all the stitches or ????  I struggled so much.  When I got up to row 22 I had to rip it all out!  I had a mess.

So I cast back on 188 stitches and started over, again!

The lace work is quite nice but I had another struggle with rows 17-56!  Seemed easy enough but going back and forth between previous rows was difficult for me to keep track of...so what to do!

Create a cheat sheet!  Works for me!  I'm on a roll now and up to row 28!

And so far so good!!!  Whew!  It still takes me a long time after finishing each row to count and make sure the row I'm on is either 188 or 190 stitches.  Sometimes I count 193! and other times 184...who knew...stitches get twisted, etc.  But I keep counting until I get it right!  HA

Now about a necklace for this top!  I follow a jewelry maker on FB  named Sheryl Stephens.  Her FB page is called Cool Moon Creation and Beads.  I really like Sheryl's work as each piece is very unique.   She will post pictures of her finished pieces (as well as some in progress!)  on her personal FB page as well as her business site (which I have linked above).   I thought this necklace was so lovely and would look good with my knitted top(s)  so I purchased it!  Woohoo!  And I think it might look good when I finish this top. 

I love the little wings and the necklace chain is gold.  It is so pretty!  You have to check out Sheryl's FB page.  She really does quality work and  her jewelry is unique!  Thanks, Sheryl!!

So back to knitting!!!!!