Two steps forward one step back.

That appears to be the theme of this sweater. I have finished both sleeves and they look good. I also got the ribbing done, and the first part of the colorwork done on the body.

Sadly this does not look good. This will be the third time I've ripped, the first time I was working with the wrong color (using navy where it should have been periwinkle) This time.. my long floats are long enough but my short floats aren't. One row I knit (3 navy 3 purple repeat) the floats are too short...so the whole thing puckers and if I pull it flat the stitches will disappear. It all makes me very unhappy. I could possibly block it out but we're talking 2-3 hours of knitting versus hating the sweater for the remainder of it's life. So... out it comes.
I did learn one other interesting thing though...from the land of desparate computer geek knitters come innovative stitch holders. I'm using cable ties...I finished the parts I that needed to go on holders while at work Tuesday I wanted to move on but had no yarn needle and no stich holders...I did have a handfull of tiny cable ties. THey're light, they lock. The seem to work pretty well... see the photo below