Two Stitches forward Ten Rows back

My mother was a beautiful needlewoman; a perfectionist who always produced beautiful work especially with hand knitted garments and she produced some beautiful Aram garments for nearly every member of the family.  She always had something on the needles. However she lost patience with me and knitting.  I am a slow learner, I have to get it in my noodle and re-arrange the furniture upstairs so I understand what I am doing and my parameters before I am able to do anything successfully.  Sometimes things are painfully slow.  However life itself is a learning curve so why not a little bit more for my plate than buying a knitting kit.

Most of you long term readers will know by now that knitting is one of my nemesis; it is not that I cannot knit, its I become bored with things and much prefer crochet which grows a lot more quickly.  However that aside, I have always wanted to knit myself a pair of socks not just any pair of socks though a pair of socks with cables in them.  Therein itself lays another story.  I have never cabled in my life before.

Yesterday we paid a flying visit to Aldi to get something to eat - not a full shop but just bits and bobs.  The full shop is scheduled for Monday night after work.

Well I found something that fitted the bill perfectly.  This little kit for £3.99.  OH volunteered to buy me it - he bless him thought that it was a completed paid of socks he was buy and he was therefore a little surprised when the knitting needles came out last night.

This is the kit I found.  I must say that as a beginner kit it is quite the value for money. They had gloves also.  Indeed, I am thinking of buying my step-daughter and my daughter-in-law a kit each as part of their Christmas pressie and then giving them a lesson each.  Thought it might bond us a bit more.  Especially as both girls love to craft and my step-daughter has requested some assistance with crafting.

I just loved these as soon as I saw them.  Are they not a pretty pair of socks.  There is three balls of wool in the pack, a pair of needles, which are lovely to work with.  

In any event, when I came back home last night I was completely knackered and decided to start on the kit.  I pulled it down five times and re-knitted it up.  I got as far as the first part of the cabling and looking at the pattern I was three stitches adrift - I know I counted them up and worked it out from the pattern.  It was only when I turned over to the stitch glossary that I found the three stitches, in essence after bringing 3 stitches forward on the cable hook you then knit another three stitches then "twist" the needles on the cabling needle and knit them afterwards.  That was not apparent from the pattern but I eventually worked it out after reading the glossary.  Then there was no stopping me and I knitted up six repeats of the cabling pattern, got to the first part of the heel turning completed and I realised I had gone wrong.  I actually needed seven repeats of the cabling pattern.  I had gone wrong again.  I unfortunately am not good at unpicking my knitting when I have gone wrong.  So quite a bit of it has been pulled down and I am going to have a look probably one night during the week if not tomorrow to see whether I can pick up and then insert the missing cable repeat. Otherwise I might have to pull it right down and start it again. I had really felt a sense of achievement as well in working out how to do the cabling and was feeling very chuffed with myself.  First time ever I have done this.  

However the bonus is that each time I knit it up it seems to be coming out that bit better, that is apart from the fact of my casting on.  No matter how I do it I am never quite satisfied with the result.  Do any of you have any tips on how to produce a nice neat cast on. I have tried the wool and one needle method and the two needle method but it always seems to come out a bit "gappy" no matter which method I employ and it makes the overall result look a little messy.  I do pull up each stitch in between as well, and I don't seem to get it tight enough.  My tension is usually quite good or am I being a tad too faddy.  Any tips would be gratefully received.

Unfortunately cannot show any photos as no camera still which has slightly saddened me as I would have loved to have shown my results.  

The wool inside my box was not the beautiful cornflower blue but like a dark green, still a lovely colour though.

So I am little by little facing my nemesis "knitting" and starting to work things out a little bit.  I am hoping to one day be able to knit socks on a regular basis and then use them for Christmas pressies as well.  My Nan always used to have socks on the go.  She used to make them for the men-folk in the family and my dad greatly valued them as they kept his feet so warm and comfy and as my tootsies are permanently cold these days it would be good to have a supply of cosy socks to wear day in day out.

Any help for this novice on the knitting front would be gratefully received.  I was hoping to take a photo of the pattern as well but that may have to wait.  I also thought that the knitting would help with keeping my hands supple, especially in this colder spell of weather we are having at the moment.

Catch you soon.

Pattypan

x

Updated with photos of pattern and my feeble attempts - but I got the cable bit right just the casting on.

PP