First Swatch is a Disaster!

Well, I managed to "finish" the first swatch for the Master Hand Knitting Course I'm taking.  I knit 2" of K2P2 (knit 2 purl 2, for those who aren't "up" on the lingo) ribbing, increasing by five stitches "unobtrusively" on the last row of ribbing, then knitting what I thought was four inches of garter stitch.  But no.  Not.  Four.  Inches.  I should have knit four and a half inches in Garter Stitch.  Ack!  So, I get to knit this stupid cute little swatch all over again.

~the wrong size swatch~

I guess it could be worse.  But, not all was lost.  Just the length.  And I don't actually mind re-knitting the whole thing.  It truly is good practice.  And I've already learned something I didn't know at the outset.  I learned how to unobtrusively increase at the end of ribbing.  

(for those of you interested: it's a k1fb in the last knit stitch of how ever many repeats it takes to get the correct number of stitches)

So, I'm fairly thrilled, actually.  And I'm only a few weeks days behind on my "Complete this Course in a Year" Plan.  I have also learned that there is a group of knitters that meet every Wednesday at the local Yarn Shop (YarnDogs) who are all doing this Course.  So, health holding up, I plan on going this Wednesday.  I'm pretty excited.  It will be nice to meet others who are fighting with loving these swatches.

That's about it for tonight.  Hopefully I will have some more to write tomorrow or the next day about my class.  For now, I will leave you with ~

~ Some Beautiful New Yarn ~

So ogle, covet and plan away.  This picture doesn't really do the color justice, sorry.  The color name is Garnet, and it's a fairly accurate description.  I believe this will be turning into mittens to keep my freezing fingers warm this winter when I take walks with the Husbie.  

Have a wonderful night, I'll talk to you all soon.

Happy Crafting,

~j.b.