When I got home yesterday evening from swimming the four blocks from the Metro to my door, I decided it was a perfect time to finish knitting the baby sock I’m working on. I spun up an episode of CraftLit (I’m behind a bit, because I like to save them until I knitting to listen to them), pulled out the knitting, and cranked away.

At eight, I switched on the tv because there was a new episode of Miss Marple on PBS. (I find I don’t watch a lot of tv these days, but I really do dig certain PBS shows, particularly British mysteries.) Knitting while watching a character knitting… What could be better?

The culprit was outed and I turned my full attention back to the sock, eager to see if I was at the toe decreases yet. I was! But, lo! What was that back several inches, in the midst of the lace?

I had screwed up the pattern.

All of a sudden, what should have been an eight lane highway veered off on one side as if a mysterious exit ramp had magically appeared.

I had a vague recollection that I may have discovered myself a stitch short at one point, decided that I had accidentally decreased on the previous row, and blissfully did a lazy fix of increasing a stitch because it was easier than pulling my attention away from Miss Marple’s keen eye for detail. Ah, the irony!

(I would like to note here that I have the utmost respect for those knitters who, when discovering a mistake in their knitting, pull out the camera before pulling out the stitches. I find myself so frustrated in those moments that I can’t even envision taking the time and energy to document my own stupidity. Or maybe it’s to shame the knitting into better behavior, like a Thai police officer in a Hello Kitty armband?)

So I ripped back to the gusset decreases to fix my mistake. My frame of mind was not helped by the fact that Cascade Sassy Stripes is not a particularly fun yarn to work with. It is splitty and it tears far too easily. Add to that that I was having difficulty figuring out where I lost the YOs as I attempted to put the yarn back on the needles, and you have a sprite on the verge of a nervous breakdown. I mean, I already talk to my knitting; it wouldn’t take much to push me over the edge…

Luckily, Rudi came to my rescue with a bowl of chili and a bag of lime-flavored chips. He put in FOUR of the hot peppers from our garden, so for half an hour all I could pay attention to was that my mouth was on fire! By the time I returned to the sock, I could once again focus on the pattern and figure out how to make it work.

Rudi headed off to bed a little while later as I sat knitting in my rocking chair. I plugged my headphones into the iPod and then promptly dozed off. I awoke at 2:30, knitting in my lap, dishes unwashed, contacts still in, and ready for the night to be over…

How was your evening?