Slow Knitting

Can anyone guess this sock pattern? It's been my zen project - you know, the type of project you have to buckle down and give your undivided attention. No listening to podcasts, certainly no television watching, and no gabbing on the phone. Just knitting. This project was just crawling along until I figured out how to knit 1x1 cables without a cable needle. Also, I was fumbling with different circular knitting methods.

This project started out as magic loop because I only had one 32-inch circular needle that was the right size. It was an Addi Turbo lace needle, and as much as I love them, the cables were a bit too stiff for the magic loop method and I was getting huge ladders on the sides. Then, I got my second circular needle back that was the right size (it was on loan), and I did my trusty 2-circ needle method. This would have been ideal, except my two circular needles were insanely long and kept getting in my way. Off to the LYS I went with every intent of buying another Addi Turbo lace needle that was only 16-inches. However, the Kollage square knitting needles caught my attention, especially since they were 1/2 the price of the Addi Turbos.

Knitting on DPNs is not my favorite, but I've used them before and the novelty of knitting with square needles is keeping me interested. I did have a "duh" moment when I first switched the project to DPNs and I completely removed one double pointed needle from my project. And then I freaked out. And then I put the project in a time out until I could collect myself. However, now I've finally found my groove. Sock Summit is my project deadline, although I really hope I'm done before then.

To counteract my "must concentrate" sock pattern, I've been crocheting on my neverending afghan. It's one year and two days since I first started it, and 80 rows are complete. I'm probably 60% complete. My afghan's days as my go-to knit night project are probably limited because it's a little odd to bring a blanket with you to cafes and pubs, even if I am working on it. I'm beginning to see the appeal of modular blanket squares.

To make up for the lack of pics, I leave you with Imploring Fifty ("if you just open the front door and let me give the dog a quick shove, problem solved!") and a blurry side by side comparison of Fifty-Fifty and Greaseball. Fifty's probably average cat size, weighing in at 11 pounds. Greaseball, on the other hand, is a whopping 20+ pounds the last time I checked. He's a jabba!