Count Early, Count Often

Over the weekend I was cruising right along on my sweater.  I had divided for the sleeves and was making my way down the body when I discovered that I had a dropped a stitch all the way back at the end of the raglan increases near the divide.  No, I hadn't been counting my stitches.  I had assumed that since most of it was straight-ahead knitting, I would be right on track.  This is a harsh reminder that I need to enforce my count early, count often rule.

My only recourse was to rip out 6 inches and put the wandering stitch back on track.  I didn't take pictures to document the incident, but you get the general idea.  The sweater shrank, and I was surrounded by yards and yards of yarn.  Once I had everything picked up and had counted my stitches at least 4 times, I didn't hesitate.  I jumped right in and started knitting what I had just ripped out.  Without too much trouble I had regained 3 of the lost inches.  

Feeling confident that my sweater was well on its way again, I put it down to give some attention to a project that had been sitting on my desk for a few days.

It didn't take long to get this up and running.

And now it's ready for this.

I'm tempted to keep going but am trying to be fair with my knitting time.  Before I get too carried away, I should check in again with that sweater.