Socks from Hell

Every year, I make sue at least one pair of socks. When I saw some apple green Phildar Lambswool on Ravelry, I immediately broke my yarn fast and bought it. I had to, they matched sue’s glasses (well, her old glasses). When the yarn arrived though, it wasn’t quite the colour I thought it would be based on the picture. That’s monitors for you. Anyway, it was still pretty good, so I decided to proceed in selecting the pattern. Django by Cookie A. was my first choice. I love the way the cables loop down the front and snake around the leg. In my rush to have a project with me to the 1000 knitters photoshoot/yarnharlot’s bday party, I never once considered whether the yarn was really appropriate for this pattern. I cast-on and chugged away at it for a while wondering whether the US 2 needles I was using made the cuff rather large. Seeing as I had only brought one set of needles with me, I ignored the little voice in my head and kept knitting. Later that night, I put the cuff on some waste yarn and confirmed that it was too big for a sock intended for sue. I ripped back (rip 1), switched to US 1 and cast on again. This time, I got as far as the first pattern repeat on the leg. Although the cuff was now a much more appropriate size, I no longer enjoyed the drape of the yarn. It was all too tight and it was hard to knit the cables. Then I saw the part of the instructions which read, “read the chart from right to left”. Of course, I was reading the chart from left to right.

By this time I was in NYC with sue and we had been to Soho where she picked out a lovely yellow yarn to be used for future socks. This cinched it. I ripped back the green (rip 2) and decided to proceed with the yellow. I didn’t cast on right away though, I needed a rest to diffuse my frustration. I knit Froot Loop instead.

In July, I cast on Django again with US 2s and after knitting the cuff, I remembered why I had been using US 1s with the green yarn. I ripped it back (rip 3) and cast on again with US 1s. By this point, I had the cuff pattern memorized. I made it through the cuff swiftly and through all of the pattern repeats without hazard. I was charmed by the cables and enjoyed the variegation in the yarn. This was particularly helpful when my flight from Toronto to Ottawa, post San Diego (ie. I had already been on a plane for 5 hours that day), was overbooked and they kicked me off the flight I had diligently booked a month in advance and put me on one that left at midnight. I was very thankful to still be on West Coast time and that my socks were bright and cheery. The strange thing about jet lag though is that I get great ideas like, ‘you can put the socks away and not mark where you left-off”. This idea was very helpful when I was at the airport a few days later, at some obscene hour of the morning, trying to piece together what was happening with the sock. I was convinced that I had finished the pattern repeat – why else would I think it was appropriate to stop without making any notes? - and started the heel. Four rows in, I noticed it didn’t look quite right. I ripped back to the beginning of the heel (rip 4). Unsure where I left off, I ripped back some of the leg until I knew where I was in the repeat (rip 5). This was a delicate procedure because I had an entire sock of live stitches during the point in the flight where the flight attendants usually tell me to put my knitting away so I don’t stab myself in the event that “something happens” during take off. I think the expression of determination on my face scared them off. I knit up to the heel again and made significant headway when I realized that between the pattern repeats, there are only two cables but between the last repeat and the heel, there were three. I ripped it back to the end of the last repeat (rip 6) without a second though, but when I looked at the pattern to figure out what I had done wrong, I saw that the sock in the picture looked exactly like my sock had pre-rip (smoke emerges from ears). I knit back up to the heel again and put away the socks. I didn't pick the socks up again until I was at the airport after my husbands PhD defense celebration weekend. I make significant progress in the heel before realizing that somewhere I had added a stitch and now my slipped stitches where out of alignment. Luckily, I only had to rip back four rows (rip 7). I am now poised on the brink of turning the heel. I have got to stop knitting these socks while sleep deprived and traveling. Any bets on how many total rips it will take to finish sock one?

Comments

[lisa]

yikes! but worth the effort b/c those socks look awesome!

[suelas.]

they look amazing!!! And the story is impressive, that's a lot of ripping. I almost never rip when knitting because I'm either knitting a dishcloth (not worth it) or I'm knitting a sock (likelihood of making a mistake while ripping/re-needling stitches so high that usually not worth it).

[Bree]

you forgot the part in the story where you realized that you don't have enough yarn to finish the sock!

you also forgot the parts where your roommate told you you were crazy to attempt this pattern.

[Allison]

I also forgot the part where I broke a set of dpns at the airport before getting on the plane, leaving me with no way to knit.