“I feel strangely confident today.“
– Charlie Brown

There comes a point in the process of learning something new when you have the great epiphany – that “I really get it” moment. Well, I have finally reached my sock knitting epiphany. I needed a gift for my MIL’s birthday so I decided a pair of slipper socks would be a nice yet fast to knit gift (she doesn’t really appreciate hand knits so she wasn’t getting lace socks from fingering yarn on Size 0 needles – ya know). I found a pattern I liked in Interweave Knits BUT the yarn they used was much smaller than the yarn I wanted to use. Being the persistent type that I am, I decided to knit a swatch – egad, I am swatching now. After thousands of several swatches, I found a modification of pattern and needle size that would accommodate the selected yarn – holy cow, I actually modified a stitch pattern.

So, I was happily knitting along on the pattern – using the necessary mods – when I got to the heel turn. The instructions seemed a little odd but since I have only knitted a couple of different types of heels, I thought that this might just be a new heel type so I knitted it precisely from the pattern. When completed, the stitch count of my heel turn didn’t match what the pattern said I should have. Okay, I said to myself (I talk to myself a lot late at night), it’s late, maybe I made a mistake somewhere. So I frogged the heel turn and reknitted it, all the time telling myself that the numbers just didn’t add up – the instructions given just couldn’t yield the number of stitches the pattern said I should have. Could there be a mistake in the pattern – oh the horror??

Upon completing the second heel turn on the same sock, I realized that I had not made a mistake. The numbers just didn’t match. The pattern had an error!!! It was late and hubbie was already asleep, so I didn’t want to turn on the computer to check for pattern errata for fear of waking him – yes I am probably the only person on the planet who doesn’t have a laptop. I would just have to figure out this heel turn without correct pattern instructions. So I re-read the instructions again S L O W L Y. I recognized what the mistake was and reknitted the heel turn the way I KNEW it was supposed to be. The next morning, I checked the IK website for pattern errata and sure enough there was, indeed, a mistake in the heel just exactly where I made my corrections. I had figured out a heel turn without a pattern there to hold my hand!!! I was so thrilled I couldn’t breathe. I tried sharing my excitement with the hubbie – but alas, he is a muggle and doesn’t understand knitterly things. I know this is not a big deal to those who have been knitting socks for centuries years. But to me, who knitted my first sock in January (2007, in case you were wondering), it was a major accomplishment. I have actually reached the level of understanding of sock construction that I can recognize and correct mistakes and make significant changes in patterns. Surely, I deserve some sort of trophy for this – well, maybe not a trophy – but I have at least earned the right to blather on and on about a silly sock on a silly knitting blog. Thank you for kind indulgence.

So without further ado, I give you the Epiphany Sock

Pattern – modification of Cowgirl Slipper Socks by Ann Budd (Interweave Knits Winter 2006)
Yarn – Bernat Denim Style – color Faded Khaki
Needles – Size 6 dpns

They look huge because (a)my MIL has really, big feet and (b)this is a very thick, cushy and soft yarn. They are intended to be a slog around the house kind of slipper so I didn’t want them to be restrictive or tight. They are quite comfortable – even if my MIL will probably never wear them – but that’s another story.

In other news, the Green Leaves sock has grown another inch and now the the MIL sock is done I can go back to them and the other 5 pair I am working on.