One Stitch

One stitch. Just one stitch. One stitch that has caused my hair to turn grey. One stitch that has made me wish there was a pound of chocolate in the house. Ok, I have spent the last hour and a half trying to figure why the blessed sock is not working out right. Why is the heel not decreasing right? Why are there too many stitches? Why am I ready to throw it across the room and scream at the top of my lungs? Why? One stitch. But I slowly realize what it is. I have caused the knitting gods to look on me and say, "Let's have a little fun with her. She has become too confident in this sock." It all started with the sock that I finished for Jo on Saturday. Boldly, confidently I cast on the Second Sock. Oh, yes I was so proud. First I had taken the Yarn Harlot's Basic Sock Recipe and shrunk it down to fit my right at three year old granddaughter. I counted stitches, counted rows, measured, sized it, tried it on her, did everything I could think of to make sure the sock fit. It was a thing of beauty. It fit perfectly. Ah, here was the problem. I was way to confident. The knitting gods were waiting, watching for the perfect opportunity to strike. Tonight I was knitting along in such confidence. I was so excited that the first sock ahd come out so well. I finished the leg andwhipped through the heel flap. Oh it was a thing of beauty. I love the sturdy heel that Yarn Harlot recommended. I love the look of it. I love the way it flows on the needles. Now Iwas to turning the heel. No big deal. I had very confidently written down all of my changes to shrink that pattern to fit a three year old foot. I have to do this in most of my patterns. It makes for easy checking later. I am whipping through that heel and am so excited. I can probably get the side stitches picked up tonight also. Then in the morning I can start on the foot. Hmm, Houston we have a problem. There are too many stitches. Ok, I must have just mis-counted the first time. Unknit, reknit, unknit, reknit, unknit, reknit. Ok, I have rechecked everything. I have recounted to infinity. I am now afraid of the wear and tear on the yarn. I re-read the notes I have written on my trusty yellow tablet. All of a sudden I realize what it is. SL1, k16, SSK, k1, turn. Holy cow, it should be SL1, K15. After an hour and a half of counting, unknitting and re-reading over and over and over I realize...one stitch. Now, I must not be too confident, I must work slowly, I must not even breathe until the last of the heel stitches is done and there are sixteen of them. Miraculously there are sixteen stitches. I carefully heave a sigh of relief. My eyes were starting to get blurry from the counting and unknitting. Now I can start the foot in the morning. I have learned tonight though that I must not get to confident even in simple stockingette stitch. I will be knitting that foot very carefully.