Gansey woes

On October 12, I started a gansey for my dad. He loves fishing, especially ice fishing, and his mother had made him an aran sweater that he loved (it's currently in my possession). I used that sweater as a schematic for mine.

On October 14, I was merrily knitting along, very impressed with the look of the seed stitch initials I had knit into the bottom of the sweater. I stopped to admire my handiwork, and I realized that I had knit the WRONG INITIALS. It's my dad, for goodness sake! It's only three letters! So, I ripped that part down and crochet hooked it back up - it took an hour and a half. I guess I shouldn't knit while watching cheesy movies.

On October 17, I was into the patterning. DP went to bed early, so I stayed up watching less cheesy movies. After about 6 inches, I again stopped to admire my handiwork. It was looking a bit small, so I measured it. 5" less in circumference than it should be. The cables didn't draw in that much...then I discovered that instead of working over 242 stitches, I had been working over 224 stitches. I may not currently be a math genius, but I got a 5 on the calculus AP test, and I took advanced math courses in college. The fact that I created motifs specifically to fit over 224 stitches when I had written on the first page of my notes "Over 242 stitches" blows my mind. I ripped again, increased inside the definition ridge and started the pattern again.

What will I do next?

I'm trying to get DP to take me to the yarn store that's NOT on the bus line...I want to pick up some cascade 220 for bed socks. I've also been wondering how 220 works steeked...how much reinforcement (if any) it needs. But, I don't want to waste any of my yarn on a practice swatch :)

I've been spinning this fiber from Squoosh on Etsy. It's quite pleasant to spin with a bit of drafting. I'm using the fractal method that I read about in Spin Off. I've spun up the bobbin with the most changes, and I need to start the one with the longer color repeats.