Trust the pattern, trust the pattern, ...crap

Trust the pattern...right. I must admit that it wasn't entirely the pattern's fault. I should have also listened to what I know about how I make socks for me. I usually knit plain stockinette socks at 64 or 68 stitches around. My foot measures 8.75 inches around and I knit fingering weight yarn at 9 spi. I went with the stitch count for 9 inches around. Yes, it turned out too big---very big. the lesson here is to round down, not up.

Then there's the issue of length. Sure it looks great in the picture on the left, but check out the next picture below. I think that I knit too much before starting the Coriolis arch expansion section. The lesson here is that when it says to knit for a certain amount of inches...knit those and not just a hair more. Then there's the issue that the diagonal band was only 2 stitches wide as written in the pattern. In the picture on page 58, it's 4 stitches wide and I think it just looks so much better. I should have gotten a picture of the diagonal. The book explains how to adjust for making the band wider.

All of that adds up to half of a sock being frogged and started over. I went with 68 stitches around and the fit is perfect. We'll see how the length is when I get past the heel.

This book is a lot of fun. I know that I mentioned doing math and plugging in numbers, but I secretly love all of that. I can't wait to finish this sock and then try to make a pair for someone else with different measurements. I'll have to measure my Mom's and sister's feet when I'm visiting them later this year. I've already measured Dwight's foot, but I don't think he wants anything beyond stockinette socks.

As for the power, the most recent power outage was due to a blown transformer or something. One of Dwight's co-workers was heading home that night and he said that the sky was lit blue over in that direction. Um, that sounds scary. I'm just glad that it's fixed. Most of our power outages are due to trees or limbs falling on the lines.

I hope to have one sock finished later today. Cross your fingers that this one fits better.