It has begun.
There was the first attempt. It didn't look half-bad. Hey, I can do this!
Then I realized I was working into the wrong place on some rows. It was a short-lived sense of competence.
After lots of ripping, I prevailed.
Then I worked on one of the fronts last night. I finished it then realized I missed two rows way at the bottom.
Rip!
I also realized that I had place the stitches on one row in the wrong place. It looks fine so I'm just repeating the mistake on the other pieces. I keep hearing from crocheters about how much easier it to rip out your work than in knitting. That may be true however when I found a mistake two rows below in my crochet I had no choice but to rip when in knitting I could have dropped down, fixed it and moved on.
Another issue here is gauge. I don't care what size this is when I'm done since I'm just doing it for practice. However the pattern calls for worsted weight yarn and an I hook. The gauge is "5 (sc, ch-3 sp) + 10 rows = 4 in. [10 cm] in Ch-3 Mesh pattern." I'm using a J hook and getting more like 5.5 sts/4". I can't imagine using a larger hook. The fabric would be so loose and not at all like the photograph. So are they lying? Am I measuring wrong? Is that sweater way more meshy, loosey-goosey than I think?