Conflicted on the Road

As I'm living in the U.S., I get U.S. holidays, which last week meant FIVE DAY WEEKEND. Sweet. As is often the case, Thanksgiving means a trip to the ranching relatives. And you know what a road trip means. Yes! Knitting on the Road.

Since the Knitting on the Road Knitalong's pattern for Nov/Dec is Conwy, and since I totally love my first pair, why not knit another? My first plan was to use my other set of Lorna's Laces. But then, upon browsing the pictures on Ravelry, I decided that the pattern would look even better in a less patterned yarn. That's when I chose my spare Smooshy.



I knit happily along as we drove north, and then more happy knitting as we socialized with the ranchin folks. But then, in a private moment when I was comparing the new socks with the first pair, I noticed--aghast--that the new socks were knitting up to look identical to a previous pair. Not cool! Although the other pair is Wildefoot, it's knit with a yarn-over cable pattern, and the finished product is very similar to the Conwy pattern I was knitting. My family menfolk thought I was absolutely batty to care that the socks would be similar. If I like one, why not two???

I also discovered an ambiguity. This ambiguity plagued me during the last pair I knit, when I was half way through the second sock and discovered the two patterns were different. This time I was very careful to follow the directions, to make sure I got it right. There's a cross-over pattern where you knit through the back loop of the second stitch. Unfortunately, I discovered the hard way that the pattern looks quite different when you knit through the back loop with the needle going in front of the first stitch, and when the needle goes behind the first stitch. I looked very closely at the picture in the book, and her socks have the pattern where the needle goes behind the first stitch. Unfortunately, I knitted with the needle going in front of the first stitch. By the time I discovered it, I was well into the sock, and it didn't really make sense to frog or to switch. But that still annoys me.

I finished right to the top of the heels. Now I'm not on the road anymore, with a bajillion distractions. I'll probably finish up the socks, but I have this gnawing dissatisfaction with the glaring similarities and the pattern error. I'll surely think on it a few more days.

ETA: Here's the pic I took on my phone when I first discovered the Similarities.