we all know what L stands for!

So I decided that the second mitten wasn't going well, and ripped back to the cuff. Actually, two rows past the cuff, since there was no reason to get rid of two perfectly good rows of single color stockinette. Knitting it right side out wasn't working for me, and I think I'll be okay doing inside out again. It was just that combined with the knitting in ends that was a bit overwhelming, but now that I'm committed to spit splicing or leaving ends again, it will be fine. So why did I rip out what I had?:

• The way I was weaving end, with putting more than one end in the same row, was bulkier than I'd like.
  
• My fair isle was more uneven than I'd like. Also, the gauge in the first few rows was too loose.
• I did what I originally did with the first mitten last spring - I forgot to start the thumb gusset after row 7. d'oh.
  
• I just wasn't feeling it. My fair isle mojo was gone.

I'll start on the hand of the mitten again this week or weekend. But I needed a break from all the problems I was having, so I started something new. I pulled out the Walker pattern book I got from the library, charted the Gothic Leaf lace pattern, and started knitting a wide lace scarf with the lovely Blackberry Ridge wool/silk laceweight that R. got me. I love this yarn, and can't wait to order some lace kits from them in the future. So far I'm a bit over a pattern repeat into the scarf. Here is a kind of blah picture. We haven't had actual sunlight here in forever, and it was hard to really pin it out in a place where I could get a nice photo of it. So you can't see much detail.



The chart was easier to write than I imagined. It guess it helps that this lace pattern only has knits, purls, yarn overs, ssk, and k2tog. Super simple. The only thing is, I had to do some funny stuff to accomodate how the pattern repeats work in the later rows. Here is a shot of the chart:



I included wrong side rows (all purl, except for the garter border, which isn't charted) to make it easier to see the pattern in the chart. The bold lines enclose repeats. Notice on even rows 14-20, things get wonky. Now, this charting method works perfectly fine, but I know there has to be a way to make an actual rectangular chart to represent this. Right now, you can see the repeat has to extend off to the left. The K2, K3, and K4s typed in there just mean that on the last repeat, I do that many knit stitches at the end of the repeat, instead of what is represented in the repeat section.

I'm fine working with this chart, but any ideas on an alternate way to chart this, so it doesn't appear so funny, like this? I admit that I haven't put a ton of thought into it, yet, as I wanted to get knitting, and this method is functional.

By the way, Lou asked about the Nordic Mitten pattern. It's from the Winter '04 Interweave Knits. I'm using the exact colorway specified in the pattern, so any compliments on that should be directed toward the designer, not me!