Anyway, i frogged it all! i was trying to knit it on double pointed needles because i didnt have the right size circular needles (long story there, but basically i bought needles from lincraft marked 4.5mm that were actually only 4mm then went back & got another pair that really were 4.5mm but you couldnt knit with them because the needles were to long & the bit that attaches them was to short - really weird!!!).
Im now attempting to knit a soaker, but no stripes this time, i decided to make it thicker & use both colours at once...stay tuned to see if its a total disaster ;)