The Case of the Missing Stitch

Adina was her name. She was a knitting detective. She studied it, and she solved problems. (Kind of like those people on Square One, remember that kids' TV show "Math Net" in the early '90s? I LOVED that.)

Detective Adina's one problem was that she couldn't go far without her knitting. It wasn't that she had to knit everywhere she went, but knowing that she could knit if she had to, that forced her to take her knitting needles and unfinished project, everywhere with her.

One week, a pair of unfinished gauntlets came with her to her boyfriend's house, to work, and back home, twice. She was sure that the yarn would slip off of the needles in transit, yet she insisted on transporting the project in a plastic Duane Reade bag.

When she finally decided to knit for real, in the comfort of her own home, she carefully opened the bag to find that the project was still on the needles, safe and sound. She checked to see if any of the stitches had fallen off the needles, but could not find any stragglers. With a sigh of relief, she picked up the unfinished gauntlet and began to knit.

She knit and knit. Until the pattern told her to change her stitches to a ribbed cuff. She had almost finished one round, when she realized that she did not have enough stitches! Shock! Horror! What had happened to that stitch she had so precisely counted all those months ago?? Gone! Where could it be?

Painstakingly, she examined the gauntlet. There, where she had begun that very day, was a stitch that was somehow twisted onto the stitch next to it. It was not k2tog, and to this day, how this happened is a mystery. But the problem was there. Detective Adina, of knitstripedfrom as she was known in the industry, had to fix her own gauntlet.

What was she to do? She had two choices. She could deviate from the pattern, leaving a mistake invisible to the untrained eye, but two gauntlets that were slightly different in pattern, or she could attempt to create new stitches all the way up the row. And that is just what she did. Using her needles, after five minutes of sweat and horror, she finally had the correct number of stitches.

But wait! The pattern called for purl stitches, and she had just made knit stitches! Panicked, she did the unthinkable -- she undid the row of stitches. Picking up the stitches was a task was much too dangerous for meer knitting needles. It needed a crochet hook!!! Slowly, she began the task of picking the the stitches again. But wait! She was somehow back to having too few stitches on the needles. And worse, she couldn't find the mistake.

Exhausted, she decided to break for the night. To cool off, she went to a bar with her friend, Dori.

In the morning, just as she had expected, everything was much clearer. Apparently, the row of stitches had become a ladder until very near to the bottom of the gauntlet. Detective Adina had no choice but to pick up the stitches, row by row, again. But wait! No matter how she tried, the stitches always came out knit instead of purl! In desperation, she turned the gauntlet INSIDE OUT and used her crochet hook to "knit up" that way.

Finally, the mission was a success. Detective Adina put the last stitch back on the needle and, smiling, continued the ribbed cuff.

The end.