Knitting Triangles

I was intrigued recently by a comfortable looking shawl, knit in triangles - one triangle built onto another.

I decided to give it a try - using yarn I had on hand - and ended up misreading the instructions! (I omitted two recurrent rows of plain knitting between the two recurrent rows of casting off!) Consequently the sides of the triangles weren't as long as the base - as this photo shows. (I will be pulling it apart soon!)














The stripes do show how the triangles are built one onto another.














I went online and found the pattern - together with a diagram of how the triangles are supposed to look.

Disappointed with my first result, but still liking the pattern, I went out and bought the exact yarn the pattern calls for. Here it is - in progress.

I am working on the 4th triangle, out of seven. (It will be quite long when done.)

Another confession: I accidentally cast on two stitches more than the pattern calls for when I started. Rather than pull it out and begin again, I continued with those two extra stitches, which - of course - makes the shawl both longer and wider, since I'm knitting equilateral triangles. I wonder if I'll run out of yarn before the shawl is done and have to buy more!

(I have come to realize that in knitting - as in cooking - I tend to view instructions more like suggestions! I wonder if that is true for everything in my life?!!)