Cat Bordhi Crush? or Crushing Defeat?

I love the way Cat Bordhi's mind works. I'm not so into the socks soaring on circular needle thing, but the moebius cast-on? Brilliant. I've only made one moebius using that technique, but every so often I have to get the book out just to try to wrap more of my brain cells around her ideas. So it was a given that I would buy her new sock book as soon as it was out, and cast on for socks as soon as possible after that.

The book is, indeed, interesting and challenging and mind warping. But, unfortunately, it involves measuring. Measuring your feet, measuring your gauge, measuring your patience while you flip around from section to section to find the instructions for the particular cast on, foot style, heel, and cuff that you like. I am not a measuring kind of gal. I tried, I really did. But I made mistakes.

My first mistake was picking one of the more complicated sock patterns. You see, I only knit socks when I am traveling, or in meetings, or when I need something relatively mindless to work on while watching Meredith mess up her relationship with McDreamy. The new cast on, new toe technique, and new stitch pattern I originally chose required Focus. Way more Focus than I could maintain. So Sock 1.0 was doomed after only a few inches.

Time then, for Sock 2.0: The Master Spiraling Coriolis. I learned another new cast on, learned another new toe technique, increased up to the 64 stitches that my measurements told me to--and the foot section was way too wide. Apparently I had measured around my foot at the wrong spot. So I frogged back to the toe, remeasured my gauge and everything else, and went with 56 stitches (Sock 2.1). I knit happily for five inches, did the easy and mindless arch increase pattern for another couple of inches, turned the heel (another new technique for me) and then--I couldn't get the sock over my foot. So I frogged back several inches and started the arch increase pattern sooner (Sock 2.2) but ended up with a baggy instep AND a sock that was too short.

The sock went into time-out, where it could cavort with the scarf from the previous post.

The book took a trip to Staples, where I had the copy clerk cut off the binding, laminate the front and back covers, and put the whole thing back together with a spiral binding. Well worth the $10--although it seems that the flipping book could have come with a flipping spiral binding to begin with, since the patterns require so much flipping flipping around.


So. I retrieved the sock from time out. I then cut the yarn, leaving Sock 2.2 in its incomplete and sad state (see above); and I started over, rather than frogging, as the yarn was starting to show some wear. (I'll use it for the cuff later, once I get the other parts figured out.)

So far I have a completed toe, and have increased up to 60 stitches. In about 5 inches I'll know if the third fourth time is the charm. If not--well, I will still love Cat Bordhi's mind. I just wish it lived nearby so that it could come do all the damn measuring for me.

p.s. Quote from previous post was indeed from The Grinch, whom I am channeling this week.
p.p.s. Grafting on scarf was successful--more details soon.