Brain Flexing

This sweater is a challenge. First sweater, first cables, first intricate lace work. Whew, not a mindless knitting. The biggest challenge is the way the pattern is written. It's sort of all written out, but not. It writes out each segment for the different cables and lace panels but then they only write out a 10 row segment which you repeat; changing increases and decreases that it lists out underneath that (in a very confusing, have to sit there for a moment and plan it out way). Examples:

Row 8: P4, work Row 8 of Lace patt over next 17 sts, p10 (12, 14, 16), work Row 8 of Small Cable patt over next 4 sts, p4, work Row 8 of Alternating Cable patt over next 8 sts, p4, work Row 8 of Small Cable patt over next 4 sts, p10 (12, 14, 16), work Row 8 of Lace patt over next 17 sts, p4.

Continue in patts as established, and AT THE SAME TIME decreasing 2 sts (as done onRows 3, 7, and 10 just next to the outer edges of the small cables) on every alternating 4th and 3rd row 3 times, then every 4th row 1 time = 70 (74, 78, 82) sts.

And after the first 10 rows none of the cables or lace panels line up. So I've been having to write down on a scrap of paper which row I'm going to be on in each segment for the next row of the entire piece. Luckily the smaller cable is only 10 rows long, and corresponds with the 10 row segment, except you'll be on row 8 and it's also row 8 of the small cable, but row 4 of the large cable and row 12 of the lace panel. wipes away sweat It also looks like I was only supposed to repeat rows 5-10 of the small cable and not all 10 rows, which really, why didn't you just write out 5 rows then? But I like the affect I'm getting with doing all 10 rows better then if I had followed directions ;)

I think I've gotten the hang of it though.