Stuck on Socks?

For pity's sake. Isn't there anything else besides socks I want to work on? I've started another pair.

Actually, there is plenty besides socks that I want to work on. The first item I'm raring to go on is the Pine Bark sweater that I haven't mentioned in a while. It was laid gently aside for a rest while I wrestled with indecision about what kind of neckline I wanted for it. I started the Gentleman's Fancy Socks to provide a mental intermission -- though it didn't quite turn out that way -- then found myself in the holiday season, knitting presents in slow motion while waiting out a case of the flu.

And so Pine Bark has had a little nap of two months. But its time is drawing nigh again. A week or two ago, I swatched and drew little charts and swatched some more until I figured out the basic plan for the neckline and stitch patterns for the edging.

Now, one might have thought that I'd have done that with the actual Naturally Harmony 8-ply yarn I'm using for the sweater, so I could not only eyeball the samples but also measure the relevant bits. But then one would have thought wrong. That would have been too sensible. No, I swatched with an unrelated ball of unknown beige yarn in a heavier weight. I think it was actually given to me long ago by my great grandmother, left over from one of her projects. Why did I dig that up rather than winding another ball of the Harmony yarn to experiment with? I have no idea. But it's kind of neat to have even little scraps that belonged to Great Grandma, my first knitting teacher. And it's nice to encounter them once in a while. So maybe that's tangled up in all this somewhere.

Regardless, since I'm designing the sweater myself, I shall have to swatch a bit more in the correct yarn, and then do a little calculating before I can get going on it again. But I'm looking forward to getting my teeth back into a big, meaty, satisfying project. It's so close I can smell it.

The socks are just a good snack until I get going. Besides, I had gotten all that sock yarn out to look at, wanting candidates to finish the Knots and Rings socks that were in need of contrast toes. Besides, there's someone else I wanted to make a pair for that I didn't get to in time for the holidays. Besides....

Oh, why not admit it? Socks are like potato chips. The colorful yarns. The small size. The limited commitment. The interesting stitch patterns. You pop one in your mouth, then another, then another. Bet you can't eat just one!