bitch slapped by the knitting goddess

Remember all my blathering about finishing up some WIPs so that I could start my Nantucket Jacket with a clean conscience?

I was working on Grandma's poncho using the classic poncho pattern from Blue Sky Alpacas and some beige yarn. I started the pattern, which is pretty easy, skillwise. However, I could not keep track of the increases and decreases. The pattern just wasn't intuitive for me. I ended up with the wrong # of stitches, and it looked weird.

So, I started again. Right number of stitches, still looked like crap.
It rolled along the bottom. Yuck. Plus, look at the weird edging. It's a kind of slipped stitch edge, but because of the way the decreases worked, it just looked uneven and not very "finished" looking.

So, I ripped and abandoned the pattern. I'm now making up a pattern as I go, with a slightly rolled neck and increases similar to a raglan sweater. Can you see the raglan lines in the photo? The back is the exact same thing. I increased every other row to get over my shoulders, then every three rows, and will taper down to every four rows, five rows, etc. until the poncho is about waist length.

(please ignore the toothpaste spatters on the mirror)

So far so good. Except that I am bored to tears. Stockinette in the round, with only a few increases for amusement, and yarn that is the color of a brown paper bag.

As I may have mentioned, I've been in the midst of house-buying, with all its drama and uncertainty. I really wanted to ENJOY my knitting, especially since it's what I use to destress from the above-mentioned house-buying. So, I cast on for the Nantucket Jacket.

I swatched. Got gauge on the first try!

I made some pattern mods, as I wanted a sweater directly in between two of the pattern sizes. In a fit of responsibility, I made all the modifications for the back, instead of figuring out as I go.

I cast on, and knit almost the whole first ball. And damn it if that sucker isn't HUUUUUGE! Like, 3 inches bigger than it should be. I measured again, and my gauge is way off. (In fairness, I swatched and got gauge in stockinette, but never did the second recommended swatch, which is in pattern.

Perhaps I should go down a needle size and swatch in pattern. Dig, dig, dig. ... where is my size 8 Addi???

Oh yeah, it's being used for the poncho.

Now, if that wasn't a clear sign from the knitting goddesses that I had better FINISH UP that damn poncho for Grandma's birthday which was last APRIL, then I don't know what is!

Scoreboard:
Knitting goddesses and poncho, 1
Danielle and Nantucket Jacket (NJ), 0

The poncho is now about two inches longer than in the photo above. Yawn.

NJ to be resumed once poncho is DONE and MAILED to Grandma :)