Snail's Pace Progress

This is my love-hate project. Instead of nicknaming it Take The A Train I should have called Take the Snail Train.  I love the design (Ellington by Cookie A).  I love the yarn (Lina from Spirit Trail Fiberworks).  The hate part has been the knitting.

I've had a hard time figuring out why it is that every time I approached the avalanche of unfinished projects, my heart sank when I opened the project bag and saw these socks.

I love to knit socks.  They are practical, ingenious in construction, and satisfying while in progress and when finished.  If they are gifts, they unduly impress the recipients.  If for my own use, they make me happy when I pull open the dresser drawer and see them lined up like cupcakes in a pastry box.  They make me happy when I wear them, in colors that are sometimes clownish, sometimes as sober as a nun's habit.

Lurker in the Shadows

So why have I dreaded working on these socks? Maybe the stitch patterns were too complicated for the mindless work that seemed a necessity over the past few months; they demanded too much concentration from my tired brain.  Maybe it was the needles I chose, knitting two at the same time on two circular needles, a technique that has served me well in the past, but which seemed to make them drag.  Once I switched to square metal DPN's, things seemed to go more smoothly, but I fear it affected the gauge.  I look at these socks, and all the work that has gone into them, and I wonder if they are going to fit the recipient.

The end is in sight, as I have completed both of them to the point where the toe pattern begins.  Eight more inches of knitting, four on each foot, the grafting (another thing I love), and then the test. We'll see whether next week's finished object report is bordered with smiley faces or a thick black band of mourning.