robknits: Knitting and amaretto

... a reasonable do-it-yourself recovery program after crazy work days. 5 hours of meetings today, punctuated by emails from staff who had decided their coworkers were looking at them funny and I needed to know the details and to make them stop.

Sigh. I came home. The cats informed me they were starving and I realized I had no cat food, so they got tuna. I collapsed on the couch clutching the Sign of Spring Sock, and the kitties, who decided they loved me, joined me there. Fortunately they let me knit and did not attempt to get between me and that small serving of amaretto. Both forms of therapy worked wonders. Here is the progress on the SOSS:

It fits beautifully and with a little amaretto I don't mind using a size 0 needle. Though the yarn is thin enough to require a size 0, the resulting fabric feels thick and cushy.

I have gotten into the swing of the pattern as well, and while I do still read the chart for each pattern row (EOR), I figured out how to do the 1x1 cable on each side without leaving stitches dangling precariously in mid-air, since when I try that with sock yarn on size 0 needles I drop those stitches every time. And I am understanding the central panel pattern clearly enough now that I can identify which row I am on without the use of the stitch counter that used to hang from that safety pin. I am almost at the point on this sock where I will start the increases for the gusset, when it will be time to put this down and go back to the first sock, done on size 1 needles, frog it, and restart it on 0s. When that sock is ready for its gusset increases, I will do the heel on one, the heel on the other, etc. My own system for preventing the dreaded Second Sock Syndrome.

I am alternating nights of fidelity to projects, knitting some nights on the MoonGarden Stole, and some on the socks. I have also gotten to the point where I am again regarding the Featherweight cardi with affection, and will make an effort to get back to that. I have promised to try to get one finished project each month this year. January saw the Nanner socks. This month will definitely see the SOSS socks, and maybe the stole or the Featherweight. With the Olympics starting, I should find myself in front of the tv on a regular basis, and I never do that without my knitting.

Hope all my friends and family in Ohio, Pennsylvania, NY, DC and New England are safe and sound, and not up to their whiskers in snow.