i never check my guage.  i never swatch.  i have always laughed at people who suggest that you do these things when starting a project...  especially when starting a project with different wool and different needles than is called for...  which is what i always do.

so, i had originally frogged my first attempt at the poncho... and started anew...  my plan was to do two identical rectangles and to sew them together like this.  well, i thought i was good, i had a chunk done, and i decided to bind off, then start the next rectangle.  my plan was to do the faded khaki (green) around the neck in one piece.  however, once i had bound off, i realized that my rectangle was actually three times as big as i needed it to be!!  whoops!  now, if i had have done a swatch like everyone tells you to do, then i would have known how big 188 cast on stitches would have been...  or, i could have just looked at the label on the wool and seen that approximately 18 stitches = 10 cm.  did i do that?  of course not!  math has no place in knitting!  oh the horror, the horror!

anyhow, what i ended up doing was re-casting it on to my needles and keeping going.  you can see a pic here...  and a close up of the stitches are here.  i'm actually really happy with it.  it's really drapey because i used a size bigger needles than the wool calls for.

so, after this big long tale, shall i put my version of the pattern?  here goes...

i used bernat's denim in capris and faded khaki.  two balls of the green (almost two full...) and three of the purple.  i used bamboo 7 mm i think they're 24inch?  circular needles, but knit straight back and forth...

cast on 188

knit a few rows for a base...  whatever you feel like (this became my top edge) 

then i did diagonal eyelets from the knitting stitch library.  i did two pattern repeats and then i did eight rows of double seed stitch.  then repeated it.  i did that for about 60 centimetres...  prob'ly a bit more, then i did a bit less than half that much for the green.

then, you just fold the thing in half lengthwise, sew up one of the open edges leaving a hold big enough for your head and there you go!  i did a row of crochet around the neck just to make it a bit firmer, and my seam is slip stitched...  i always like the way that it looks...

i'm just glad it's finished.  but, now i'm kind of in project la la land...  not sure what to pick up next....  really the only thing i have on the go right now is jessie's damn sock....  i am on the hunt for a really easy lacy pattern to do with angora for a pretty scarf for my gramma for christmas...  good thing she doesn't read this, hunh??  and of course i have to come up with various other christmas crafties for the loved ones...

ahhh, to dream, to dream!

and the new knitty is up!!  they have some really beautiful patterns....  i'm loving this and this and this is adorable...  and i really like this, but i may be too lumpy for it!

for housework??  well, all who know me know that i love to knit and crochet, but, most knitters and crocheters like nothing better than to simply knit and crochet all day long.  this, obviously, is detrimental to having a clean house, clean well fed happy children, and etc...

so, i have devised a plan for myself.  i am allowed to knit or crochet one or two rows (depending on the project) and then i have to clean up one thing.  for example, i knit one row on my current project (it's quite big), then i pick up all the blocks.  knit another row, and then unload/load the dishwasher.

now, this would be a great system if all i had to do is pick up the toys and tidy the kitchen...  but, once again i am playing catch up, so there are a ton of other things to do.  folding and putting away laundry being one of them.  but, it's not so bad when i have the knitting to look forward to!