Arggggh!(yle)

I made some progress on the Argyle Socks while at the in-laws' earlier this week. The days were filled with many activities (musical theater, family reunions, museum exhibitions), so I didn't get as much done as I would have liked. And, I ran into problems.

I've found that the bobbins don't always naturally drape on the side that you want them to. Especially the ones at the opposite end of the needle from where I'm working. Several times, the bobbins have fallen on the wrong side and caused quite a bit of confusion. I managed to figure it out when it happens -- every time but once. And oh, that one time.

I got to the end of a row and found that the bobbin had flopped over to the other side and I had just blithely knit past it. So I had a strange navy loop that ran from the front of the sock, around the selvage edge, and then to the back. I had done this about ten rows back. You would think a mistake would be easy to see, but with all the bobbins bouncing around, it must not have registered. I had two choices -- tink back much of a day's work, or pull the needle out and rip back.

Naturally, I thought the former would be best, but after the first row it was driving me nuts. So, I went with plan B. I got all spread out on the kitchen table (the knitting I mean, not me) pulled the needle out, and then just methodically frogged, color by color, untwisting at the color changes as I went. It was very unnerving, but it worked. I even managed to get all 70 stitches back on the needles in the right combination. I sweated bullets, but I had the whole thing done in half an hour.

As you can see from these pictures, the construction is kind of weird in order to accommodate the intarsia. It's knit flat to the heel, and then joined for the heel, with the gusset decreases being knit on either side, also flat. The sole is knit out to where the toes start, and then the patterned instep will be knit, with the seams on either side of the foot. Then everything will be joined in the round at the end for the toe decreases. As if there weren't enough ends to weave in already.

But the Argyle Socks may be delayed a bit as I've taken on a semi-secret project. A dear knitter friend is entering a contest, and has asked me to knit one of the samples in a man-size. I don't want to let the cat out of the bag until she's had a chance to blog about it, but I do have her permission to post pictures. I've only barely gotten started, but here's what's happened so far. I think this is going to be wonderful, and I can't wait to see it develop. More pictures as I make progress.