Note to self....

When trying a new technique, it may behoove you to read how said technique is actually done, rather than trying to wing it yourself.

I have now started to knit sock(s) for Michael twice - the reason for the plural is the second time I decided to knit both of them at once, thankfully I switched to one at a time a few rounds into the cuff. I will most likely not be doing this again. Having the insteps and/or cuffs the exact same size when you are knitting at 10-12 rows/inch really doesn't matter all that much to me, and that's saying something given my perfectionism. Nor is having both socks done at once worth the bother of dealing with two balls of yarn at once - I have to concentrate on the way I turn my work to keep them from getting too tangled and I have to switch too often (Michael's socks have a 42 stitch circumference on this yarn). I'll stick with speedier knitting. I am getting sold on Magic Loop though - buying one long needle is cheaper and easier on my hands than working with two 16" circs.

The first sock went fairly well up until the heel. I tried out a new technique for working the shortrows on Misocrafty that Wendy Knits posted in her blog as worth trying for people having trouble with holes in their heels. Almost always up for something new, I decided to give it a shot. I tried it and hated it, this is with the caveat of doing it from memory having read the instructions once or twice. I got a round or two away from starting the ribbing for the cuff and frogged it.

After talking with my friend J, I decided to give two-at-once a try again. I also decided to try out a new to me technique called the Afterthought Heel. The idea appealed to me, having my heel look exactly like my toe and not dealing with shortrows at all after the last debacle could only be a good thing, right? It would have been if I decided to actually google the technique and spend five minutes reading on how to do it. Instead I laboriously knit the insteps of Michael's socks, knowing that time was of the essence since I not only need the yarn but the needles as well for a project that I am intending to sell (and wouldn't you like to know what that is...). I figured that you transfered half of the instep stitches to waste yarn and then replaced them with a provisional/crochet cast-on. In theory, this is a good idea and if I had been knitting the socks one at a time it may have even worked in practice, but the end result was hideous to my eyes, which is to say it was probably acceptable to the rest of the word at large and who the hell is actually going to be scrutinizing my son's sock heels anyways? His mother, that's who.

The moral of this rambling rant filled with way too many parens and run-on sentences is to take the five minutes to google the damn thing before you start so you don't have to frog several hours-worth of work that you've been avoiding, despite needing to finish it so you can do the thing that will make you money.

Take that Strunk and White! Yes, I said it. No appologies here tonight.