Well....DUH

A couple of evenings ago I was working on my Baby Surprise Jacket, using a spreadsheet I'd found linked on Ravelry. I'm an Excel kinda gal, so using a spreadsheet just fits in to my basic nature.

The spreadsheet I was using was based on using a different marking system for the decreases and increases in the pattern. My personal preference is to use a total of four markers, one on each side of the center stitch of a mitred decrease so that at each decrease it would work as follows: SSK, slip marker, K1, slip marker, K2T. Because the spreadsheet I was using marked their decreases and increases differently, I was constantly having to rethink the stitch counts and what to do when.

Suddenly it hit me. Why not make up my OWN spreadsheet showing my stitches the way I wanted them? Duh. So I laid my knitting aside, went to the computer and very soon was admiring my very own spreadsheet. For some reason, that was all it took to make me realize that the Baby Surprise Jacket isn't nearly as difficult as I was making it. Last night I zipped right along and stopped after completing line 104. If the buttonholes and the binding off go as well as the parts I knit last night, I should finish up either tonight or tomorrow. *happy dance*

I've not been happy with the yarn I'm using. It's some inexpensive acrylic stuff I picked up at Wal-Mart way back when I was first learning to knit socks and hadn't yet found a place I could locally buy real sock yarn. (Which is, of course, my one true addiction in life. *LOL*) This acrylic is deceptively soft to the touch, but is a little splitty to work with. On top of that, it's pulling ALL the moisture out of my poor little fingertips! YUCK!

I'm anxious to finish the jacket so I can start the second one in some more appropriate (I hope) yarn. I'm calling this one my "trial run". I hope to start the "real" one sometime tomorrow.