Provisional cast on, aka story of our lives..

I like toe up socks because there's no pesky finishing to annoy your toes in use. But it does require that you use a provisional cast on. This is a fiendishly clever piece of engineering which enables you, once the toe cap is done, to pick up the half of the stitches which were waiting for the cap to meet them, with no evidence that they were ever apart.

It's brilliant. And seems simple. Like those squirrel proof feeders. I've made a few pairs of socks with varying success at the pco. One I invented which didn't work, ended up picking out the pco bit by bit. Then I tried the crocheted pco, following directions. When it came to the "just zip it out" bit, it didn't. Ended up picking out etc etc.

So here we are with another gallant try, following YouTube tutorial. She appears to be working nice and slowly until you try to work along. Several ditched attempts and now I think I have it. Not elegant, but the dark red yarn is supposed to slide out once I need those stitches again. We'll see if it results in another picking out bit by bit.. I am hopeful.

Aren't the stitch markers lovely? Gift from a Rav friend in an embroidered clamshell case.

So I learned this pco yesterday. It's a good day when you learn a new thing. And all the socks I've knitted look fine.

You'd never guess the ineptitude that went into the pcos.