ARGH!!!

I know why the heels on my Paris Rain pedicure socks are baggy and ugly.

The reason is I AM A COMPLETE FREAKING MORON WHO CANNOT FOLLOW SIMPLE FRICKIN' DIRECTIONS AAAUUUUGGGGHHHHH!!!!!!! ::sob::

The directions say to do this:

Row 1 [WS]: Sl1, p to end.
Row 2 [RS]: [Sl1, k1] to end.

This means:

Row 1: Slip one stitch, and purl the rest of the stitches
Row 2: Slip one stitch, knit one stitch, slip one stitch, knit one stitch, etc. till the end of the row

What I actually did:
Row 1 [WS]: Sl1, p to end.
Row 2 [RS]: Sl1, k to end.

This means:

Row 1: Slip one stitch, and purl the rest of the stitches
Row 2: Slip one stitch, and knit the rest of the stitches

AUGH. AUGH AUGH AUGH.

The slipped stitches cause the fabric to pull in tighter so that your heels are not BAGGY AND UGLY AUGH!!

I was so mad that I seriously considered throwing the completed socks away and buying 2 new skeins of yarn so that I could do them over and GET IT RIGHT OMG. I'm still considering it. :oP

In theory, I might be able to unravel the socks and fix them, but they have already been washed and I'm afraid I would run out of yarn before the end. I could knit them a little shorter I guess. I don't know. Just--AUGH. ::headdesk::

You know what really astounds me? I did the same thing on both socks. Which means I read the directions wrong not once, but twice.

I am shamed.

I discovered this last night as I worked on another pair of pedicure socks for a friend. I was knitting while doing some computer maintenance. I got through the whole leg of the sock and started a couple of rows on the heel turn, and that was when I noticed that things were different than on the sock I had worked on before.

It was some small consolation that I got through that section of sock so quickly, though, and it is a huge relief that I am not risking a gift to my friend of baggy socks. I'm so relieved and I take back anything mean I said or thought about that pattern!

Onward and upward

I finally finished the Urban Necessity gloves, shipped them off to RG, and she loves the set and says it fits. I am extremely pleased. I have plenty of leftover yarn, so I am thinking of making her a scarf for her birthday or Christmas. Later. I love purple but I am tired of looking on it.

In the meantime I have started the Imperial Armwarmers. There is something funky with the black yarn. It is stiff and rough-feeling. I don't know if the issue is in the dye or what, but I'm glad I had knit with another color first. The yarn is Swish Superwash and it was great with UN, wonderfully soft and cozy, but this skein just isn't working for me. Even the grey I am using for the two-color work has a distinct difference in feel.

The two-color work is kind of killing me. I am worried that the floats are keeping the yarn from stretching as much as it will need to to go around the recipient's upper arms. I had her try them on when I saw her this past Friday and she said it was fine, but I still worry. I am knitting as loosely as I can, but for me...that is not terribly loose.

I hope the yarn will use some of its wierd feel when it is washed. I have almost three weeks before I see this person again, so I hope the armwarmers will be finished and washed by then. If possible I'd even like to finish the gloves for the other friend I will see at the same time. We will see how this plan goes. After this I am totally off gloves for a while. I will stick with mittens and wristwarmers like sane knitters.

My chocolate waffle scarf is going slowly since it is kind of a last-resort project. I knit it when I need something utterly mindless. I am anxious to get all my gifts knitted off so I can relax and knit something really fun for me, all for me!