No cankles here
A few days ago, I was doing the toe decreases on my first Alternating Rib sock, and I realized it was time to stop and face facts. Every time I'd tried on the sock-in-progress, I could see what was happening, and I could ignore it no longer: I was knitting what would become, after about five minutes of wearing, a slouch sock. And since I haven't actively sought out a pair of slouch socks since about 1985, I knew what I had to do.
Rrrrrrrripppp!
I ripped the sock back to about 5 inches of leg and started doing paired decreases (every 5 or 6 rounds) at what would be the back of the sock, so that by the time I got to where I wanted to start the heel flap I had 8 fewer stitches than before. And it was So Worth It. The sock fits better, and the stitch pattern looks better. I think I could have maybe tried harder to make the decreases look better in the back, but I'm happy enough. 
I'm not advocating perfection; I'm just saying that sometimes you know you have to rip. And you should. It's only knitting. It's like hair -- it grows back.
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More from the "We like free" Department: In case you don't know, the Canadian Living site is a good source of free patterns. At the moment, you can find the Mason-Dixon hand towel pattern (Ravelry link) and a pattern for crocheting a tote bag from old plastic grocery bags. Plus the site archives its patterns -- both patterns that were published in the magazine and those excerpted from books (e.g., the Bountiful Bohus cardigan pattern [Rav link] from More Big Girl Knits).
OK, we're off dark and early tomorrow morning on our holiday to Cuba! See you in a week or so!
15 comments:
You are so right. Sometimes the only solution is a good rip. You made a vast improvement by doing this.
I like the decreases. It's like some shrubbery growing up the back of your leg.
"It's like hair -- it grows back." I love it!
I liked the sock decreases - well done!
Thanks for the Canadian Living site link. It's new to me, and seems like a real winner.
Have a wonderful trip! We'll miss you, but look forward to hearing about your adventures.
Snarf... it's like hair, it grows back... You're hilarious!
Thanks for the link to CL. I - a Canadian - didn't know about it!
Yup. You're right. No cankles there.
nope, no cankles! not worth it :)
Nice decreases! I guess you're called brainylady for a reason.
These socks look very comfy and they're such a pretty shade! Have fun in Cuba!
Oh, Alison, I do honor you for your do-over. Since we hardly ever knit out of necesity, there is no reason not to get it right. I hope your trip is wonderful, and I envy your freedom to visit Cuba.
"I'm just saying that sometimes you know you have to rip. And you should. It's only knitting. It's like hair -- it grows back."
So true. i just had to rip recently and was thinking about how a couple of years ago I would have just plowed ahead, not being able to rip back. But now, I will. Because whats the point of having socks (or whatever it is) if they aren't right and you never wear them?!
Have fun in Cuba :)
Thanks for sharing that link to the hand towel! I requested that book (primarily for that pattern) through ILL a couple of weeks ago but it's slow to arrive. Now I don't have to wait!
Much better! No slouchy socks!!!
Thanks for the info about the decreases! I'm a beginning sock knitter. I was having limited success in changing needle sizes when I got down to that portion of the leg (and I wasn't brave enough to try the decreasing). Thank you! You should get lots of Positive Knitting Karma for this post. :)
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