Last week, I imported a bunch of very old blog entries and organized them into categories. Two years of off and on blogging about my plans to finish Luskentyre shamed me into pulling the project out and working on it. Back in October, I realized that my pattern was offset by one stitch and that I would have to rip back a few rows. The idea of ripping out shetland wool was not thrilling, but the good advice left by fellow knitters raised my confidence to the point where I was ready to do it. Using a lifeline, I ripped back to the pink row marked on the picture below. While ripping, I found a dropped stitch which was the reason for the pattern offset. The picture above is the little pile of recovered yarn that I'm holding onto in case I run out towards the end of the sweater. Update: When I picked up the lifeline stitches, I tried to get the stitches onto the needle so that they'd be sitting in the correct position. If I didn't get the stitches right while picking up, I fixed them as I transferred the stitches back on to the original needle that I'm using for the project. Melissa asked if I had just started knitting off of the needles that I used for picking up the stitches. I may have done that if I was working a single color sweater. For this one, I was trying to be very careful and methodical so as not to make another mistake. If you are a blogger who is discouraged by the productivity of many of the amazing knitters that are found on the ring, you should come and visit me at this blog from time to time! Compared to me, you will feel like a speed demon. This crazy fair-isle has an astronomical number of stitches. Over 300 around the circumference. It's the largest size, I doubt it is at the correct gauge and I think it will be the world's largest Luskentyre. The combination of sticky wool, two colors and my general frustration keeps my pace to about 30 minutes per row. Maybe just a tad less. Just for the heck of it, I went to dear Sheila's site to use the MGPTEHKG (Madame Glitchbane's Project Time Estimator for Hand Knitted Garments). Madame Glitchbane estimate's that my project will take about 1.27 years. This calculation is for the time it will take from start to finish. Let's see, I started this in 1994... Lifeline :: The lifeline method that I used was to choose a row that I felt was safely below the mistake. I took two very long circular needles in a smaller size than what I was using for the project. I then picked up the stitched of the selected row all the way around the sweater. I ripped back with confidence knowing that I had a row of secured stitches that I wouldn't be able to rip beyond. As a result, it was an easy recovery. The other lifeline method that I've seen discussed on various lists is often used in lace knitting (though may be used in any project). At specific pattern rows a contrasting yarn or crochet thread is carried through the stitches in case a situation arises where ripping is required. Some online stories about lifelines: Windblown Spinner I Hide Yarn Wendy's Knitting Tips - search the page for lifeline p.s. If you happen to visit Flor's blog, you may have noticed that she posted some fair-isle color samples a couple of days ago. The pattern she was experimenting with is the same one used for Luskentyre.