Don't get cocky -

Riding high on the giddy success of not one but TWO Ballet Tops, I had been toying with the idea of doubling the Loop d Loop pattern (and halving the gauge) when MJ turned me on to a link to essentially the same top but in a finer gauge. It's the Magknits Picovoli Top.

Hooray, right?

I did a gauge swatch with a #7 needle and got the correct 5.5 stitches to the inch (using this super-fine Suss cotton I got on sale for TWO BUCKS for 256 yards) and considered myself ready to make what promised to be a lovely fine-gauge top.

I've done two of the Ballet Tops and two no-pattern top-down raglans, so I was feeling pretty confident (looking back I'd have to say cocky).

Well, I've totally screwed up on this simple top-down raglan - I have to rip the whole thing out, which is a first for me. I have NEVER ripped anything all the way out.

I'm still trying to figure out what I did wrong - I cast on the right number of stitches, placed the markers in the right spots (or did I?), increased properly - but after 9 increase rounds my stitch count is right but the distribution of stitches between the markers is WAY off.

Gleeps. No photo - you couldn't tell anyway at this point.

Crap!