I need to get with the program

I finished girl child's sweater and cast on for a pair of socks (Colinette, some wild color, my own design as far as socks go). I obviously forgot how to knit socks and had to rip the first sock out twice before I got it right...and for some reason I can't muck up a sock until I reach the instep. I can't mess up on the ribbing, no I have to wait until the thing is half done before I decide that it won't fit the way I expect it to. Pictures perhaps soon. For my upcoming birthday I ordered (both) Sensational Socks and More Sensational Socks by Charlene Schurch. I expect them to arrive next week and am knitting madly on the second sock of the pair mentioned a moment ago, so that when the books arrive I'm ready to cast on another sock. Oh, maybe I'll go and dig through the sock yarn stash and wind some into a tidy ball so that when the books arrive I don't even have to pause to wind yarn......