Lesson Learned

When NOT to try to learn to knit socks...

1) When tired
2) When watching something interesting on TV
3) When drinking scotch

Yep - I was doing all three of these things two weeks ago when I finally tried to teach myself to use DPNs and knit a simple sock. Believe it or not, I was actually getting it for quite a while. I won't lie to you - the whole working with 5 needles was quite stressful but I had cast on, divided the stitches, and made my way around about the circle about 6 times and I was doing great!

That is, until the three things one should not do when learning to knit socks coincided with a break to use the bathroom.

I sat back on the couch and proceeded to knit/purl - you guessed it! - in the wrong direction. I didn't notice until I got back to my stitch marker - which was at the end of my needle instead of at the beginning.

Damn it! I cursed under my breath.

But not to fear! I tried to reassure myself. I'd been here before and knew I just had to work my way back to where the problem began.

I successfully unknit/unpurled my way along two DPNs and then...

::SWOOSH!::

...the DPN slipped, 2 stitches slipped, and I swore like a sailor.

Sean quickly came to my rescue by getting my crochet hook holder. I took out an itty-bitty hook and tried to reloop my lost stitches. I could not for the life of me get those 2 stitches back. And as items 1-3 collided with frustration, I gave up, pulled out all the DPNs and rewound the yarn. I was not amused. ::insert more salty sailor verbiage here::

Sean, being the wonderful and supportive husband that he is, tried to reassure me that I had done a great job getting so many stitches on 4 needles on my first try. I, on the other hand, could not be consoled. So much work for nothing...NOTHING! I was in no mood for a lesson. I wanted a pair of socks in the making. But I knew my emotional limits for one evening and did not touch the needles or yarn again that night.

The next day I was in better spirits thanks to a good night's sleep. I was able to more realistically look at what had happened. There is only so much one can expect will or should be accomplished the first time one attempts to learn to knit socks. I was too hard on myself and I needed to try again under more ideal circumstances.

The following weekend, I tried again - this time with much better results.



Now mind you - there is only like 3 or 4 rows on this sock so far and I'm not anticipating that it will turn out to be a wearable sock. But as a first go at sock knitting, I'm enjoying it thoroughly. We'll see how much I like it when I hit the snag in my lessons.