too stubborn for my own good

oh sure, it looks pretty, originally uploaded by gradschoolknitter.

Yeah, sure noro, you make a pretty sock. I mean, just check you out:
Sí, noro, te pareces muy bonito como un calcetín. Pues, mirate:



Pretty, but I've probably had more problems with this (relatively simple) pattern than any other.
Muy bonito, pero he tenido más problemas con este (bastante simple) patrón que nunca.

Problems, more or less in chronological order:

1) Hubris. I started these at knit night, without the pattern in hand, partly because I knew that someone else would have it on them (we're working these together as a KAL) and partly (mostly) because I figured it was simple enough that I could figure it out myself. (HA)

2) Over-yet-under-written pattern. Go take a look at the pattern. It has 6 different sizes. Which is great... but it makes for a REALLY long pattern, with a lot of different numbers being thrown at you. It also has 6 stitch definitions and 8 pattern notes, before you even begin. Now, considering that I glanced very quickly at the pattern when starting I read the stitch definitions and thought "huh, that's odd, where does the twist come in?" Because if you glance at them quickly this:


Twisted-slip rib (worked in the round)
Round 1: [K1, p3]. Rep across.
Round 2: [Sl1, p3]. Rep across.
Rep Rounds 1 and 2.
See Pattern Note 4 below about working decreases in this pattern.

Yfwd: Bring yarn to the front, as if to purl.

Slp: Slip st purlwise. If working right side row yarn is held in back. If working wrong side row yarn is held in front. See Pattern Note 1.

Might make you think that all slip stitches are done purlwise. But if you look very carefully, you will see that the abbreviation for a slip stitch in the twisted-slip rib notes is marked as "Sl1" NOT "Slp"... indicating a knit-wise slip, NOT a purl-wise one...

3) The yarn... oh the yarn. Pretty? Without doubt. See above. But as I mentioned before it is a thick and thin yarn, which to me really isn't great for socks. And it's a single ply!!! Like the mini mochi that felted in the washing machine... I don't have high hopes for the washability of this yarn. How many times do I have to learn the same lessons?!

4) Heel /Gusset decreases: Heel first: the purl stitches at the end of the RS rows? does not compute. I feel like it would just make it harder to pick up the stitches, although I've heard other people say they loved it... maybe I'm just not getting it. But the gusset decreases: every third row?! Maybe if I wore men's size 13 shoes and had a super high arch... but since I have ridiculously small feet this would probably end with me decreasing the gusset into the toe.

5) The toe construction. OK, I admit that I was probably rushing it last night, after a while all this purling and slipping gets pretty boring. So I might have stopped a teeny bit before I normally would for a toe... but the way this toe is constructed (and yes, I get that it helps keep the shape) is way too fast / short for my liking. So I had to rip back and add some more to the foot before re-doing the toe. But again - my own hard-headedness prevails: I did the toe as per the instructions a SECOND time. And it's still a bit short, but there was no way that I was going to rip it out again.

A ver... me cansa mucho pensar en escribir todos mis problemas con este calcetín otra vez, en otra lengua... y las de MadridKnits ya los conocen bien. Pero si tienes alguna pregunta sobre mis problemas, no dudas en dejarme un comentario.

ETA: did I mention that this is only the first one?
no creo que haya mencionado que este es sólo el primero, ¿no?