Monday, July 10, 2006

A Tale of Two Socks

I've been knitting socks.

I started a pair of Grumperina's famous Jaywalkers for myself, using some lovely Lorna's Laces shepherd sock yarn that I've been dying to try. It looked wonderful:



Then I found some Opal prisma yarn that I thought would be perfect for my mom, so I started a pair of stockinette socks to take as a surprise when we go on vacation to her house (this FRIDAY!!). I set the Jaywalkers aside to work on my mom's socks. The good news is, the first one is finished:



The bad news is, when I went to do a couple of rounds on the Jaywalkers last night, I discovered 2 dropped stitches, right where the double decrease occurs in the pattern. I know it was NOT like that when I put it down a week ago, so I can only assume that a small band of trolls infiltrated my work area when I was out shopping at my LYS and mucked with my knitting. Or possibly the LL didn't like the thought that I was scoping out other yarns and decided to mess with my head a little. In any case, despite my best efforts, a lot of concentration, and several curse words, I failed to fix the problem and actually made it worse. I then tried to rip back a few rows past it and start over there, but couldn't get those teeny tiny stitches back on the needles, so I finally gave up and frogged the whole thing.

RIP Jaywalkers.

(Not to worry, I'm taking the yarn and pattern with me on vacation - the Jaywalkers WILL live again)

10 comments:

Harriet said...

Ouch! I think you should do something else for a while and get back to the Jaywalkers after a break... They don't deserve your attention after giving you such horrors!

I've finished three different old projects in the past week - socks, sweater and shawl - and the mental de-cluttering effect is great. Now I am doing an easy cardigan for Abby, which will be followed by my fair-isle winter cardigan.

Faith said...

ohmygosh! I'm so sorry -- that sucks! Hope you havebetter fortune when you cast on again. 0=

Patry Francis said...

Those kind of things made me chuck my knittting needles in frustration. I envy you your patience!

Anne Bauer said...

Oooh, I want some! But I'm far too lazy and impatient to knit. Guess I'll head to the store.

Sharon Hurlbut said...

Harriet - Wow! You are knitting up a storm these days. I doubt I'll actually get to the Jaywalkers for a while. I'm taking 'vacation' projects for the girls with me - mermaid outfit for Emma, Hula girl outfit for Kate, and the knitted Fiesta Tea Set. And of course, there's my mom's other sock to finish, too. *sigh* Stuff for me always seems to fall to the bottom of the pile.

Faith - thanks! I'm sure the sock could have been saved (should have been!), but I just grew so frustrated and was so tired that I gave up on it. At least I only wear ankle socks, so it's not like I was ripping out an entire long leg worth of knitting!

Patry - I'm sorry to say, I'm afraid it's more a case of extreme stubbornness than patience. I simply will not be defeated by something like a sock. Telling me I can't do something is the one sure way to get me to do it. If I had patience, I probably could have got it back on the needles. Oh well.

Anne - that's funny, I consider myself one of the laziest people on the planet, and not too big on patience either. I guess it's the challenge I like. And learning new things. Always learning (not just knitting) is a key to my existence.

And you know, I've been thinking of starting a knit-for-lit exchange program, trading handknit items (like a pair of socks or dishcloths or a knitted critter) for signed chapbooks, books, anthologies, copies of magazines with short stories, etc. What do you think?

michi said...

sharon, i adore the colours of the first pair - although only just looking at something knitted in this heat makes me sweat! :)

happy knitting!

m

Unknown said...

Hey you, catching up to your news, ou sound so good, lots of love honey, the pictures of the girls are great, as are you...xoxo
see you soon,
Patricia Parkinson
Canadian Writers Collective

lorguru said...

I love that you include pictures with your posts. Sorry about the glitch problem.
Just wanted to let you know I randomly chose one of your published stories to read...Cracks,...and I really love it. I'll read another next time I visit. Great, great work!
-lauren

Arlene said...

oh no, don't you just hate it when that happens! i used to do cross-stitching and made some mistakes every now and then on the design... i'd drop the whole thing for a month or so then restart with vigor again by correcting the wrong stitches and going on. hope you get back to the jaywalkers with renewed vigor soon!

a.

Sharon Hurlbut said...

Michi - Isn't that beautiful yarn? I love the colors too. It's called Lorikeet, and the photo doesn't really do it justice.

Patricia!!!! There you are. What have you been up to (other than your fabulous work over at the Canadian Writers Collective)? Drop by my flash office when you can....we miss you!

Lauren - Okay, you totally made my day with your comment about reading my story. Thank you so much!

Arlene - I'd just like to have vigor at all, let alone renewed ; ) The thing that made it so bitter was that I had done such a good job on the sock up until that point. It looked and felt great. Ah well, it'll probably be even better next time around!