good news/bad news

so, the bad news first ... on Monday night I had the front shaping done on my x-back tank and only a few inches of straps to complete the project. I connected the front straps together with a stitch holder so it resembled a halter top and tried it on ... in the month or so that I have been sporadically working on this project, my running mileage has more than doubled so I have dropped a couple of pounds (most noticably in my cans, unfortunately! and pooch, fortunately! my hips are ample as ever). I also realized that when calculating gague, I did not take into account the amount of give that seed-stitched ribbon yarn has and when I put on the top, it was far too big. My choices are now to rip it all out and start over, or hang onto it until I gain 15 pounds. I am hoping the former never happens, so I will have to rip this project apart and start over. This could be good, since my two other projects I currently have are quite challenging and I would probably welcome the chance to mindlessly seed stitch in front of the television some days. However, it is disheartening to rip out six balls worth of knitting, so I will most likely put this away for a while.
GOOD NEWS: my brown cabled hoodie is going to be sooooo cute. I have knitted up a swatch to figure out my gague (smaller than called for! but I think that's because I am using a blended yarn, instead of 100% wool, so the yarn is a bit thinner) and also to test out knitting cables from a chart, instead of written directions like I had for the blue project. So far, so good. I just need to take some new measurements and make sure I don't make this too big so I look like a bag lady, or too small so I can't lift my arms while wearing it. I don't know if you can tell from the picture (camera phones aren't known for their attention to detail) but there is some nice pink fleck action going on in the swatch too. I have quite a few pink warm-weather tops that I can wear with this hoodie when the weather turns colder. It has been hot in Ventura this week, but Brian mentioned feeling a "fall chill" in the air this morning while surfing.
Tonight Wes is golfing with Matt and Andrew, so I have the apartment to myself to pack for Seattle (leaving tomorrow right from work) and then watch the season finale of House (I missed it in May, but TiVo came through for me last night when it re-ran) while I cast on for the back of this sweater and knit a few rows to start it off. Once I get in my seat on the plane (next to a stranger, most likely ... note to self: charge iPod tonight) I want to be ready to take off knitting right away!