I started a new little cardigan the other day.  The yarn I am using for it is Knit Picks Galileo.  I can’t say enough good things about this yarn.  It’s a bamboo/merino wool.  It’s very soft and has such a pretty sheen.  

I am knitting a pattern from a designer whose blog I have followed for a long time.    The blog is in French, but I love just looking at the pictures of the beautiful things she designs and knits (fortunately, she provides the pattern in English).

So I started this little sweater.  It has lace across the front.  I knitted several rows and I saw that the lace was not coming out right.  So I pulled it out and started again.  I thought I must have been off somewhere, but I basically did the same thing over again.  Reminds me of the quote: “Insanity is doing the same thing over and over again but expecting different results.”  (I thought Einstein first said this, but apparently this may not be the case.)  But I like that quote.  It’s apt because that is what I did.

I was getting very frustrated and mad at myself.  I don’t like it when I just can’t figure something out.  Fortunately, there is ravelry.  I went through the project notes of several other knitters who have knitted this pattern.  Thankfully, one of these knitters enlightened and saved me!

So typically when you knit a lace chart you start on the right side and go left. 

 (I also figured out how to do put in arrows using Photoshop.  I was proud!)

But when you have lace on the front of a cardigan this won’t necessarily work.  You have to take into consideration that you are just knitting the front, and also that there is a divide between the left front and the right front.

I was very very very happy when I figured this out with the help of ravelry.  Third time was a charm and it’s gone easy as pie since then.  

The purple yarn at the top is an indication of something else new that I learned.  I did a provisional cast on (so I can add the neck border later). I’d done this type of cast on before, but not quite with this technique.  I used the knitting needle and a crochet hook.  The video I used made this very simple and easy to understand. 

It’s going to be really pretty, and it’s a fun pattern to knit!