Waiting for courage

While I've been waiting for the courage to rip out my lovely sock and re-start it (??!!), I've been trying to amuse myself with other things. I found an interesting Japanese book that had an amusing tank top in it that was all basically a mesh thing. I decided to try it for my daughter, who was excited about the idea. Unfortunately, I think I hate it. I have started twice, and I am just not enamored with the color, the ribbon, whatever. I'm using a size 15 needle, and I think it's going to take too long.



So I started a plain blue cotton hat for my son. About halfway through, I wonder why I'm doing it -- he doesn't need a cotton hat, and I'm not sure he wants one. He's a willing participant to the trying-on-thing, though, and I ask him if he'd like something on it, like a stripe in a fun color. "I want horsies on it," he responds, as he walks out of the room. (Remember the race car vest? He has an extremely vivid imagination of what I can put on knitted items because of it.)

Since I can't put horsies on a bulky cotton hat (without sewing patches on, making the whole thing a huge horse head, or something else), I put down the hat.

Next I picked up a small ball of Rowan cotton glace that I got a year ago to make into delicate lace washclothes. (The pattern actually calls for linen, it's the pattern that The Yarnery in St. Paul contributed to Knitter's Stash.) It amused me enough to keep me going, and let me not think about the lovely sock that I'd be ripping out soon.



It's nice, isn't it? Not too demanding, just friendly, quick start, quick finish, and you get to play with a new lace stitch. This one is the lacy vine.

Update: Morning brings courage. I ripped out the hat, the sock, and began both again. The sock is looking and fitting better, and the hat is cast on (smaller needles this time).

This is my last morning of peace for 2 months -- summer school/camp ends tomorrow with performances, then flying home, then weeks of swimming lessons at 8:15am for the kids. I'm going to go knit.