I begin again.

Now there have been good days in knitting, and there have been not so good days. My fellow bloggers, you have read the recent tales of both on this "intrepid" blog. Yet even this brave knitter knows when to throw it away and begin anew.
I came, I saw, I conquered, I tossed it.

Yup - Toasty Toes sock in colorway Ivory by Fleece Artist is now pushin' up daisies in the town dump. May it bring beautiful blooms.
Let me set the scene prior to last nights firm decision to dump it (yes it truly is gone, so no gnashing of teeth nor begging from any of you sweet friends out there ): I had been knitting between seeing clients in my office - normally I have about 10 minutes to either return phone calls or sit and knit if nothing else beckons....... I was knitting. in fact, comin' down the finish line on the first sock. Toe decreases had begun; counting of stitches had commenced; it was allllllllmost complete... the excitment was growing..... pride filled the air (was that my first clue?) Finally I got very busy at work and had to set it aside until I got home around 8:00 pm.

With tremendous excitment in the air, I slipped it onto my foot to brag about (I mean model) it for my husband.......... oooohhh and aaaahhh's were appropriately voiced (he's a really good enabler and encourager for this knitter!)
then..... I loooked down...... about 1 inch down from the cuff (yes, I knit that part first) was a hole.... the dreaded hole...the quarter-size gap that seemed to laugh and mock me with it's absurdity.. It did NOT belong there. I did not put it there (yet I needed to reassure myself). sigh. I began to tear back the sock.
it wasn't pretty.
my beautiful "invisible join" rent asunder.
I kept on pulling the yarn for what felt like hours.
the yarn coiled in wrinkles at my feet.
I got back to the durned 'hole' and examined carefully...... and what did I see????? yarn damage in a big way.... grease rubbed into the yarn (I must not have been looking at my fingers for a few rows while I was knitting.) durn it all.
I had missed this flaw - and it jumped out and bit me! (so glad that it happened to me and not my giftee~ how embarassing that would have been!)

So I then proceeded to turn the remaining ball over and over in my hands. Were there more of the pesky little frayed spots in the ball? un huh... yup... multiple ones.
Looks like this lovely yarn must have gotten snared in an electric skein winder, and gotten chewed. poop.
An executive decision was made. Not wanting to risk sock holes in a sock that is to be a gift, I decided that rather than 'repair' all the breaks, I would take the hint and:
begin again.
and so tonight, I did just that :-) Here's a lovely sock start in Lorna's Laces Powder Blue.
P>S> see the nifty little bag? It has made it's appearence in a few earlier photos. My clever Mom handmade this. the little pillow rests on your knee (or the arm of your chair) while you knit, and the bag part holds the ball, extra needles and what have you. It was perfect for knitting while sitting outside on vacation. I just love it! thank you Mom!!! I was trying to convince her to make them and sell them through my blog..... anyone interested?? I might still be able to encourage her to do it... but ssssshhhh, don't tell her I told you! (hee hee, Ilove you Mom)