Another Knitting Black Hole - NEW Scientific Discovery!

There I am, finishing up (finally) my 2nd little 10"x12" afghan "square" (okay, so my I'm-going-to-do-it-myself design was sooo off on needed stitch count). I fiddled with the pattern and made my own as I didn't like the ones I was doing. What else is new.

Anyway, I cast on 54 stitches and increased to 68 to accomodate the 'pull' cables exert (as in: cables are a Force of Nature whose-influence-is-not-to-be-ignored) on any piece of knitting. That's an increase of just 12 stitches. Keep that '12' in mind. It's important.

See, there were to be 3 main sections to the 'square': 22 stitches on the outer design (Trinity stitch) and 24 stitches for the cabling. Twenty-two plus twenty-two equals forty-four. Right? RIGHT! Then add that 44 to the middle 24 stitches: that's 68. Even I can add in my head that much. To check, I used my calculator. We both came up with 68.

Gottit. I knitted. And knitted. AND knitted, cabling dutifully up the piece, finishing off 5 repeats of the blasted Celtic Knot figure. Still had 68 stitches. Good. I'm an expert at losing stitches.

Always mindful of making ends, edges and other things match, I carefully decreased - BY 12 STITCHES (yes, I counted) - on the first of the 6 garter row edging (to match the beginning 6 garter row edging).


I NOW HAVE 48 freaking stitches. Not 56. 48.

And the dadburned thing looks FINE! (other than being too freaking narrow thanks to my stitch number miscalculation.)

AND, I still have to make it wide enough so that it will BE a flippin' square. Do you know how UGLY adding side edgings to a 3-stitch (or any number-stitch) garter edge??? BUTT-ugly; that's how ugly :-(

::retires muttering::

I give up. I hate knitting. I'm going to take up stamp-collecting.