Posted under socks
Here you see the Gothic Spire at its inception.
I started on Wednesday night and I was knitting merrily along enjoying yet another fascinating pattern by the ever wonderful Cookie A. Fast forward to Thursday night when I found myself sitting at the cafe waiting for others to show up for the weekly meeting of Aloha Knitters. I just happened to peruse the pattern, when I noticed that you’re supposed to rotate the stitches at the beginning of the round after each repeat. Ay yi yi.
At this point I had knitted up 3 repeats worth. Each repeat is 18 rounds, which is 54 rounds. All I could do was sit and stare at all that I had knitted. All those carefully wrapped stitches stared right back at me. I knew what I had to do. I just didn’t want to do it.
But I did.
And it hurt.
Just as I had finished ripping out some 36 rounds and had started carefully picking up stitches, a couple of lovely ladies asked if I was a part of the knitting group. I may have growled at them a bit. If I did, I apologize profusely. I was in the throes of The Beast.
You know that Beast. The one the knitting goddesses send out when you blithely assume you know so much about knitting that you don’t really need to read the pattern. The one they send out to emphatically deflate your ego just when you start to believe that you are a knitter that really kicks ass.
If you can hear me O Knitting Goddesses, I have learned my lesson. I shall RTFP* from now on like a good little knitter should. I have been properly humbled.
On a brighter note, Melanie’s Mystery Stole 3 is now open! The madness begins on June 29th. Who will join me? Also, WWKIP is tomorrow. Where will you be knitting? I’ll be at Aloha Tower!
*RTFM is geek speak for Read The F*cking Manual. I have bastardized it to mean Read The F*cking Pattern.
Karen B. on 08 Jun 2007 at 2:12 pm #
So sorry, Opal :o(
At least I’ll know to pay close attention to the pattern when (if) I do my Gothic Spires. Boo! Such pretty yarn too.
For WWKIP day, I’ll be in Chicago’s Millennium park. The weather is supposed to be just right (sunny, upper 70’s). Knit on!
Dee on 08 Jun 2007 at 2:48 pm #
Sorry you had to visit the frog pond.
I’ll be knitting in public at the Altamonte Mall (just like every Saturday). Almost every day is a KIP day for me. ;-)
Peggy on 08 Jun 2007 at 2:49 pm #
Thanks for the language lesson! RTFP LOL.
Also, I appreciate the heads up for the Mystery Stole. Maybe I can get in to this one. I printed out last summer’s but never cast on.
Sue J. on 08 Jun 2007 at 3:18 pm #
I’m certain those socks will be just grand. We’ve all encountered the beast, usually at the worst of times. Thanks for the heads up on MS3. I’ll be knitting in public tomorrow at the Cody Stampede Grounds. This is rodeo country.
lobstah on 08 Jun 2007 at 4:18 pm #
Urgh, sorry. These things happen, right?
Barb on 08 Jun 2007 at 6:08 pm #
Hey you might have invented a new pattern!
desiknitter on 08 Jun 2007 at 6:17 pm #
Cripes, sorry about the pain. We have all been there, but it is always just as painful each single time. But look at it this way: you’ll have one of Cookie’s great socks soon!
joy on 08 Jun 2007 at 9:06 pm #
it may have been painful, but brief. the socks will live on! ^_^ btw, you suckered me. mystery shawl, here i come!
Jeanne on 08 Jun 2007 at 11:42 pm #
Oikes! I am so sorry - but been there done that….always better to rip it back and do it right, but I know how much it hurts! Have a great weekend!
Lisa on 09 Jun 2007 at 1:53 am #
Oh bummer! Sorry you had to rip, but you know they will be worth it when you’re done. :)
Randy on 09 Jun 2007 at 10:01 am #
How bad do your clown vomit sox look? I wear a size 8 and if they are cute maybe I could buy them from you? I love the colors!!!!
Hattie on 09 Jun 2007 at 11:46 am #
Ouch! That sucks. I bet you will be so much happier in the end though! I’m lazy, I may not have ripped them lol.
Hattie on 09 Jun 2007 at 12:17 pm #
Oh yeah, and I’m sooo in on the mystery shawl, I’ve never done one, but if it’s anything like her other patters….drool…
Kristen on 09 Jun 2007 at 3:54 pm #
Oh, I knew exactly what RTFP meant as soon as I saw it! Oh, man. I think every single one of us gets into a groove on a pattern and stops really looking at the pattern, and then…well, you know. Don’t feel bad.
Janelle on 10 Jun 2007 at 6:39 am #
Sorry to hear about your socks! We’ve all been there. I do love the color, and I know they’ll end up really pretty!
Aim on 10 Jun 2007 at 7:07 am #
Don’t you just hate when you catch yourself doing that?! Happens to me more than I like to admit–who wants to wait around for the directions? I just want to knit forward, knit on, knit fast, crank out another project….I think it’s just our love of the game!
Meredith on 10 Jun 2007 at 10:43 am #
I feel your pain, babe. Been there, done that! My neighbor Bill and I knitted in public in our neighborhood yesterday. Both of us got sunburned. (But only a little.)
I with you on Mystery Stole 3! I did #2 last year and had a great time. I may use the gold Zephyr from my stash or I may get some vanilla. Don’t know if I’ll be using beads or not. I will probably use my KnitPicks Classics #3 because I am a loosey-goosey knitter…which means either I must finish the scarf/stole from VLT I’m working on or get another set of #3’s. The gauge swatch will tell the tale. Hope the Gothic Spire socks are now under control.
huggggggggggggssssssssssss
textillian on 11 Jun 2007 at 3:08 am #
Sorry to hear about the ripping. That is never a good feeling. So much so, that I sometimes consider whether I just want to go ahead and call it my new pattern. You are stronger than I.
Alison on 11 Jun 2007 at 3:38 am #
Sorry about ripping. The gods/goddesses have been smiling down on me so much lately, I’m wondering if they are just biding their time in order to have a really good laugh at me when I get too cocky. Seems to be their way. Then again, the last two sock patterns I’ve tried were pretty lousy so maybe that was their fun with me.
It’s a pretty color; good luck with the starting over!
Roseann on 11 Jun 2007 at 3:42 am #
I am sooo glad I am not the only one who has been in this situation. Beautifully stitched sock and well worth all the effort (I do feel your pain). You keep helping me add to my list of socks patterns I want to knit and I am grateful for all the variety.
Asaknitter on 11 Jun 2007 at 3:53 pm #
Oh no! May the force be with you.
textillian on 12 Jun 2007 at 1:33 am #
Are you supposed to rotate the pattern after every repeat, because after looking at the photo on their website, it doesn’t look like that happened between repeats 3 and 4? Just trying to provide some comfort.
Laughingrat on 17 Jun 2007 at 5:23 pm #
Totally doing the shawl. It’s crazy, I don’t have time for another project, I’ve never beaded before, I can’t get a small enough crochet hook in town, but by god, I’ve got my yarn and my beads and I’m slavering for the 29th to get here already!
the Akamai Knitter » Opal Garden Socks on 22 Jun 2007 at 12:13 pm #
[...] Instead of following the toe-up pattern, I ended up doing this cuff down. This was not a cleverly devised plan of mine decided by preference. No, this was because I did not RTFP. [...]
the Akamai Knitter » Again and Again on 27 Jun 2007 at 4:04 pm #
[...] That’s right. Despite the fact that I finally grasped the art of the rotating stitch pattern, I still needed to rip the whole thing out. [...]