Ever tried. Ever failed. No matter. Try again. Fail again. Fail better. — Samuel Beckett
This quote is my mantra for knitting this week. Yes, I have tried. Yes, I have failed. Yes, I tried again. Yes, I failed again. My attempts are not always better, but I still keep trying…as you can see from my foibles this week!
The foot looks long because it is!
This sock… sigh. I started once, but the pooling and looseness of the fabric meant I ripped it out and started over. Second start was fine until I got to the heel. Can I just say that counting really matters in knitting and if you are 3 stitches off on heel placement… well, it matters! lol So, that got ripped back and knit again. I kept wondering why it was “off center” but never sat down and counted. (Also, knitting while Zooming with the Exhuberant Jillian is a great way to make lots of mistakes, just saying.) Anyways, I ripped that back Monday morning and started the heel again… counting correctly this time! Then I got to the portion where I can start the cuff ribbing … and started until I realized that in order for this shortie sock to fit well, I will need some short rows on the heel side of the cuff, sigh. That meant a bit of tinking back the couple of rows of ribbing I had done to raise the back cuff. AND!! At long last sock ONE is done! Hopefully I took good notes so I can do the second one with no ripping back and just some speedy knitting! (That birthday is fast approaching!)
The faded blue sweater body with the charcoal grey button bands!
My initial color thoughts… I need 5 colors.
Although, maybe I did not pick great hues…
At some point today I am going to be doing some coloring to determine colors for my Daytripper Cardigan! I have the body and the collar/button band colors decided… I just have to figure out the remaining 5 colors… wish me luck! (Or at least lots of fun coloring!)
The reading this week was so good! (and I am almost finished with another Gabriel Allon mystery!! So, I mean it when I say SO GOOD!)
The Devil in the White City: Murder, Magic, and Madness at the Fair That Changed America by Erik Larson
My rating: 5 of 5 stars
The tale of two stories, expertly woven together! I knew that Chicago had a World’s Fair but I knew little beyond that. I never knew that Chicago was called the White City nor all the fascinating details around the fair construction. This book is a history lover’s dream… I learned so many things I just had no clue about! Add to that this intertwined story of a string of disappearances and murders that happened and you have a mystery that unfolds with the fair. I highly recommend listening to this book… and the ending where the author shares how he went about gathering the information he used to write the story! Thank goodness for libraries!
Summerwater by Sarah Moss
My rating: 4 of 5 stars
The task of writing about the sometimes ugly side of humanity cannot be an easy task… however, Sarah Moss does so and she does so so well that you just can’t stop reading. I saw myself in her writing, and so many people I know there as well. This book made me stop and think. It made me nod my head in agreement and consider the way that people, by nature, just irritate each other! The writing is just so beautiful and the humanity so real. I highly recommend this brilliant little story!
That’s all I have for today… what about you? Is your knitting always successful? If not, do you keep trying?
As always, if you wrote a post to share please leave your link below and thank you!
Knitting a sock once for a large-footed male is a labor of love, knitting it twice + is an act of true devotion! Your sock does look great and I hope you can knit the second one more easily. I loved The Splendid and the Vile so I am off to look for Devil in the White City. Thanks for the recommendation and happy coloring!
For your sake, I am glad Steve likes shortie socks! I am already dreading the socks I intend to knit for my brother (he wears a size 12, I think). I hope you have much better success with your sweater now that you’ve gotten gauge!
I definitely want to read some more Eric Larsen in the future, so I’m glad to hear that this one is good!
I think I had heard about Devil in the White City – will have to look for that. I love the yarn for the sock. Glad #1 is finished and hopefully #2 will go quickly. I was wondering if you would be coloring! Have fun and I’ll look forward to seeing your final choices.
Devil in the White City is so good! (We read it for my old book group years ago — it was a favorite-read for our group.) Good for you for being a persistent knitter (although that is so hard sometimes. . . ). And . . . good luck as your plan your Daytripper. 🙂
I’ve got two books to pick up! Thanks for the recommendations. 😉 Good luck with the socks.
I loved Devil in the White City when I read it many years ago. And I just finished Summer Water and agree that it was very good. I have never had good luck with toe up socks.
If it helps, it’s not just you whose knitting isn’t always successful. I recently had to rip out most of a sweater body because my gauge swatch lied to me and I didn’t trust my instincts when I first started to suspect the sweater was going to be too large…
The Devil In the White City has been on my to-read list F.O.R.E.V.E.R.!! One of these days…
I really love how that sock is turning out… we all have foibles! 🙂
Looking forward to seeing your color choices! Have fun coloring.
can’t wait to see the next big cast on! Isn’t it funny how counting matters in knitting – sad but true.
Oh the counting in a heel. I am often ripping something out and doing it over. Sometimes we get distracted. The colors of that Lopi yarn are very pretty. I don’t think you could go wrong with any of them but I imagine placement makes a difference. Erik Larsen is a good writer. I should look and see what I haven’t yet read by him. The one about the Lusitania before WW1 was very interesting. Happy coloring.
I salute your persistence with the sock! I absolutely hate to read posts where the knitter gets frustrated and throws the whole thing in the trash. I want to tell them to just get over themselves; put the objet d’ knit into time out, and go knit a dishcloth to calm down.
I listened to Devil in the White City several years ago — excellent. I also read his In the Garden of the Beasts, about the American ambassador to Germany in the 1030s.What an impossible job he had!
Thank you for the Erik Larson book recommendation. After listening to the sample I used my Audible credit. I needed to know more! Hard to walk away. Totally intrigued. It’s a period of time, the Turn-of-the-Century that I’ve wanted to study in depth but never have. Perhaps this will be the beginning. Thx!!!
Eric Larsen is so good! Highly recommend In the Garden of Beasts … sort of a backlist sleeper. I do hope you’ll share the coloring pages for your sweater – that sure looks like fun!
Your husband is very lucky to have you! I hope you’re able to finish these socks SOON!! 🙂 And I’m excited to watch your Daytripper Cardigan grow!
I still haven’t read much Eric Larson – only The Splendid and the Vile. I must correct that. I’ve added Summerwater to my TBR – thank you!!