Still Knitting

Progress, I see some progress!! After ripping out the bodice a few times I got the hang of the lace pattern, I know now that I have a mental block for lace. I get confused with the ssk, k2tog and the yo's but I want to learn it and so I knit on . I figure sooner or later it will sink in or I'll give up in dismay and only knit in plain ol' stockinette. Of course the weaver in me craves the pattern effect of the fabric so we must persevere .

This is a close up of the lace, which is really easy as it's only a four row repeat, but I knit and listen to the television so there in lays, my error filled lace, I know I shouldn't be doing that, but I'm hard headed and the wall street meltdown has been interesting if not educational, along with the debates, I have some trouble turning it off.
I also found that counting my rows and repeats were getting confusing for me, not that it's a giant mathematical feat, but well, as I said before I confuse easily. I was on Ravelry, which is taking up way too much of my time lately, and I found that the knitters there were raving about a beaded abacus bracelet. Since beading is one of my first loves I was curious, so I found a thread that was on topic and was pointed towards Sutherland Studios
which gave the most detailed instructions on how to make one. This of course is the results of a few minutes to get the bracelet put together, I must add that I love it and it's as pretty as it is useful. There are 9 small beads with the fifth one being a different color, and 10 of the larger beads, a crystal seed bead separator and a charm to indicate which side you started on. The small ones can be used to count stitches or rows once you get to the end of the beads you can pass a large bead through the separator that is #10, in the picture I'm on row #3. It seems fussy but once you start using it, you get the AHA! moment and wonder how you got along without one.