In which my perfectionism is justified

So, I finally had the intestinal fortitude to face the orchid mitts. The nearly completed mitt is still MIA and I am almost certain I dropped it on the plane. I try not to think about this bit of stupidity because it burns.

I frogged back, carefully and keeping an eye on the number of stitches, on the other mitt, and I finally found the problem all the way at the base of the thumb gussets. I was supposed to yarn over once, then knit three plain rounds and yarn over, knit one, yarn over. I skipped that first single yarn over, and that's why I was short a stitch. The stitch that would have been created by that single yarn over didn't exist because I skipped it, and so I ended up taking one of the other stitches.

When I discovered the error many rows later, I was tempted just to increase and move on, but it killed me that I couldn't figure out where I lost the stitch. I should have been able to see where I dropped a stitch or had an extra decrease. Because I couldn't find it, I wasn't happy just increasing, and so, I frogged.

Even I thought it was stupid to rip back so much work over one stupid stitch, but I couldn't help it. I couldn't shake the fear that it would turn out to matter, and sure enough, it would have mattered. My entire thumb gusset was off by three rows, and wouldn't have fallen the way it was supposed to. It might not have been noticeable, but it might have made a difference in the look and fit, so I'm really glad I went back and found the error.

But now...it's past time for bed.