Reality check

Here's the reality of lace patterns:
1. One error has the potential to screw up the entire pattern
2. One error will screw up part of the pattern
3. One error won't make a difference because no one will notice
It all depends on the pattern. And it depends on the error you make.
Here is a sampling of errors:
1. dropping a stitch
2. adding a stitch
3. forgetting to knit a row
4. repeating a row you weren't supposed to
5. repeating stitches before you're supposed to
Etcetera...
A lace pattern like the one I am doing for my second place mat falls in the category of #2. I've already ripped it out, um I think twice. The second time was because I had done something really screwy in one of the pattern repeats that made it look pretty bad. Now the 3rd time around I got to a pattern repeat and left out a row, but the pattern still looked good...so I left it alone. I know Mom will accept the gift not caring one whit or another that I left out a row.

I have also found that it is important to check stitch count FREQUENTLY. This is how my pattern got screwed up the 1st couple of times. An additional stitch here and there. I though just knit 2 together to fix it. HA! The pattern was already messed up. Doing that wasn't going to fix it. Neither did adding stitches when I found several missing. When these mishaps occurred I was too far from the initial error to back up and fix it thus forcing me to rip out the pattern to the border. (Have you ever tried to put a piece back on the sticks that has a lot of yarn overs? NIGHTMARE!) So every 3-4 rows I count my stitches. When I notice that the end of a row isn't ending as it should, I go back and check. I back out until I: a. find the error or b. get to the point where I have the correct number of stitches and take it form there. Now the pattern is finally looking like the picture in the book.