How Turtle Got Her Groove Back

My mojo was gone. It seemed every sock yarn I touched was cursed. First, it was the Anastasia Socks. I wasn't facing facts for that post. I cleverly arranged the socks such that they appeared the same. But in fact, one cuff was an inch longer than the other. An inch! Then, it was the Fixation socks. Again, I cleverly arranged the socks so that they looked the same. In fact, there was a gaping hole at the top of one gusset. Then, there was the Diamante. I wanted to do the pattern, and I wanted to use that yarn, problem was, they didn't work together. So, I frogged. So I started a simple feather and fan sock. I used the magic cast-on, size 0 (!) needles, 72 stitches, the Diamante heel - all was well. Then I started the cuff and promptly screwed the pooch on that. First, I was repeating it wrong and ending up with too many stitches. Then, after I fixed that and had done about 3 inches of cuff, I went to try it on. I couldn't get it on. It didn't help that I was knitting it so tightly that I was getting at least 11 stitches to the inch. I didn't want to admit that I'd screwed it up again. I thought the yarn was cursed. I put it down for a few days. I didn't want to have to frog it. I thought of making them for my mom instead, with the narrow foot. Surely she would be able to get it on. But I really wanted this yarn for myself. I put it in it's bag and let it sit. It mocked me from inside it's bag. "You'll never get me right! You'll keep frogging me until I fray and can't be knit any more!" My sock knitting was a joke. It felt like I couldn't knit a sock to fit my foot to save my life. Sure, I'd successfully knit a few pairs in the past for myself. But overall, I've failed more than I've succeeded. Or so it seemed. I needed to get my confidence back. First, I ripped back the cuff of the shorter Anastasia and knit it to the appropriate length. That felt good to get that done. So I did what any knitter would do. I started another sock. With yarn I love. Lorna's Laces. The pattern is from the book Sensational Knitted Socks. Knit on 80 stitches on size 1s (9.5 stitches to the inch - tight knitter that I apparently am) these suckers are sure to fit me. It's a 24 row pattern, so I'm using my row counter bracelet. You're looking at 2 repeats right there. It felt good to get that done. Then, I patched up the hole in the fixation sock. And I felt even better. Then I was ready to face it. I picked up the bag with the cursed sock inside, and opened it. The needles were already off of it because I needed them for the Anastasia sock. All I had to do was pull. How far though? If I rip back to the beginning of the cuff, right after I finished the heel, and then start on 1s, it would probably fit, but I couldn't be sure. I didn't want to screw it up again. So I kept pulling. and frogged that heel. I frogged back to the last gusset round. And I added a few more stitches, and a few more rows. Then I started that heel over again. And dammit, it felt good. This one is going to fit. And so will the Lorna's Laces one. My sock knitting career is looking up.