Holding Pattern

I seem to have been going about this the wrong way. Literally. And that's why my neckwarmer in progress looks like this:

My design sketches show a row of buttons on the left, front but it did not fully dawn on me until this morning that I'd been approaching the knitted realization of the sketches from right to left (beginning of row) and not left to right (end of row). The lesson here is that, while you may picture it one way, it cannot be created that way (head > desk).

I've been at this for the past two weeks, in one way or another, with very little to show for my efforts except for scribbled pattern notes (with the requisite strike-throughs) and arrows pointing to other parts of the page. As the yarn begins to show signs of wear after being knit and ripped and re-knit several times, so does my patience with my ability to execute these particular design choices. Oh, and before anyone asks, the first item of business was the creation of two carefully measured gauge swatches.

Could lack of sleep or the pressure and pain behind my eyes be playing tricks on my inner deconstruction vision? If it's not a bout of the galloping sinus crud, my biggest fear is that alpaca released into the air by frequent frogging might be sparking some kind of allergic reaction (cue the screeching "Psycho" violins).

Thus, here the balled yarn sits, gored by a pair of size 17US needles and awaiting new orders. In the meantime, I think I'll knit an adorable little jumper (free Blue Sky Alpacas pattern) for my neighbor's new baby girl. After all, Malabrigo chunky hath charms to soothe the savage breast.