Windy Weekend

The weather made a bit of a turn this weekend. We went from relatively mild weather to down in the low 40s with really strong winds. They were calling for gusts up to 65 MPH, but I'm not sure that we actually reached that. Though it was strong enough to knock over a stand with a heavy potted plant in the back yard!

I avoided catastrophe just a while ago with my new socks. Actually, let me back up just a little. I started the socks in the same way I always do, thinking that after the leg was finished I would make a heel flap, turn the heel, pick up the gusset stitches, decrease back down to my normal number of stitches and carry on with the foot.

Well about halfway through knitting the leg, while perusing my "Sensational Knitted Socks" book, I decided maybe I should try a different heel. I decided on the traditional turned heel without the heel flap. So this afternoon I started working on the new style heel and didn't get very far into it before I figured that I had made a few mistakes. Plus I realized that I wouldn't be able to carry on with my K2 P2 ribbing down the top of the foot like I wanted to without some extra fancy figuring that didn't seem worth it. I was instead going to go back to the original plan.

The only problem is that this meant I'd have to either tink or frog back to where I had started. I chose to frog. I must say that I am no expert at frogging and then inserting my needle back into the loose stitches. In fact I have a huge phobia about doing it! But I tried it. I got about half of the stitches back on the needle when the other half, from me manipulating the fabric, started slipping/pulling through the previous row. Here I stopped to take a breather...

Then it dawned on me that I had seen a video on Amy's site. It's an alternative to what I had tried to do and it's titled "Inserting a needle into destination row, before unraveling" (look under the "Fixing Mistakes" header...) She basically shows how you can insert your needle into the fabric below the active stitches. Then when the needle (or needles in my case) is in place, you can frog back to where you inserted your needle(s) and you're ready to go.

Well, I tried it and it worked like a charm. Woohoo! A big thank you goes out to Amy. Without that video I fear I would have been frogging the whole thing and that would have made me very sad, not to mention cranky!!

So anyway, here's the sock as it is now, back to how it looked before the heel fiasco...

If you get a chance, head over to my friend Ruth-Anne's site and say hi. She just started a blog of her own and has some shots of the hats and socks she's been working on lately. Very fun stuff! Ruth-Anne and I used to work together here in Bangor, but she's sinced moved out to Colorado...even though I told her she wasn't allowed to go! Can you imagine the nerve?...

LISTENING TO: SIOUXSIE & THE BANSHEES - "Juju"

I've been listening to this a lot lately with Halloween right around the corner. Siouxsie's dark and icy voice is in top form and musically and lyrically it's definitely one of their darker albums. A perfect fit for the season! Take a listen to the terribly appropriate "Halloween."