Rumpelstiltskin

That's me.

Once a year it's good to get up as though to start your day, then promptly report back to bed and sleep until the sun is high. Today was that day. I hope you took advantage.

On the knitting front: the toe of one man-sock is decreased and ready to be kitchenered shut. Now on to the second sock! I don't suffer from Second Sock Syndrome, as do many others. In fact, I think it's more exciting because you KNOW you're over halfway done. With luck, this pair will fit my dad. I used no measuring method this time. Unless you count having my in-house man-sock model try it on and deciding to stop before it would fit his size 11.5. Earlier this year I foolishly harbored a wish to make a pair of socks for everyone in the family for the holidays. As I said, foolish. For me, that is. The Yarn Harlot could probably do it. And someday, I hope to be able to cruise through projects at her pace. But it takes years to develop the skill and speed. I've only been knitting since 2002. I currently have two pair of man-socks in the works. And a pair of two-color Icelandic wool socks that flummoxed me halfway through last winter. Oh, and the Aran sweater. I drove myself into a frenzy from December to January trying to complete that thing before we went to Germany. Finished the back and it felt like halfway. But no, it was more like a quarter complete. Then, the wool shriveled or something because the first front piece came out too small. The whole thing got sidelined while I dealt with the confusion, anger and denial. It comes to this: rip out the front and use bigger needles to get gauge, or........and this one hurts more, finish it and give it away to someone smaller. It only hurts because that's the sweater I've wanted all my life and I doubt that anyone I know would cherish it like I do. It would just be another cardigan, not a treasure. No, I'm still not ready to dig that one out.

However, there's a small chance that I will get to accompany Matt to Donegal this coming summer. That's were the yarn for that Aran sweater came from. The nice fellow who purchased it for me lost one ball between there and here. So this will be my reason to start it anew; an opportunity to buy just a little more. Or a lot more and start a second one now that I have learned how to read charts and do piecework. Yeah...that's it. One for a gift and another for me! Hurray! It's the best of all outcomes. Sometimes it's good to have a carrot.