Not fast enough

Last night on the subway I took out my knitting, and discovered that a woman right near me had also begun to knit. I caught her eye and smiled, and she smiled back. She told me my project was beautiful. :) I thanked her and asked her what she was making. She didn't really seem to understand what I was asking, so I pointed to her work. As near as I could make out (she didn't speak much English), her son will be having a baby soon, and she was making something for it. It was a pity we couldn't chat about knitting, but it was an entirely pleasant exchange. Smiles of appreciation are universal among knitters.

What bugged me was how freakin' SLOW my knitting was compared to hers. She was managing at least a stitch per second by my guess. Sadly, I wasn't at a good angle where I could really get a look at exactly what her hands were doing, but MAN, I wish she'd known English better so I could have gotten some tips!

I should point out that the speed thing with me is not about ego (well, not all about ego, anyway). The real deal with my 'need for speed' is that the faster I knit, the faster I can finish projects. And the faster I can finish projects, the faster I can start other projects. And the more projects I can get through in less time, the less chance there is that I will die before I finish all the knitting I want to do. That is the real driving force.

Another thing that didn't happen fast enough for my taste was the delivery of the Yarn Harlot's new book to a bookstore near me. I called Chapters/Indigo again this morning and at last, at last, at last, they said there were six copies in one of the downtown locations. Woohoo!

Need I mention that there are now only five? :)

Twenty-two days into the month in which it was released before I could get my hands on a copy. Sheesh.

And now I can't read through it fast enough. :)

Stornaway sweater for BIL (blue)

Yesterday evening I finished sleeve #1. Hooray! I am now just three days behind The Schedule on this project. (We shall not speak of my other current projects, which are weeks behind The Schedule. But I digress.) I'm now about an inch into sleeve #2 and hope to have it half done by the end of Sunday, which would bring me right back in line with The Schedule. I think this is do-able.

Poncho for Chewie

I am starting to refer to this as 'the PonChew'. :)

(Sorry.)

I think I've decided to make this out of the same variegated yarn which I'm using for my (so-called) striped socks. For one thing, the colours in the yarn are vibrant, so that will give the piece some bling. Also, one of the colours in the yarn is a green which will coordinate beautifully with Chewie's handbag.

(Yes, he has a handbag. What of it? He also used to have matching pumps until my co-worker William lost them. Chewie is very stylin'.)

I will definitely have yarn left over from my socks, but not enough to make anything significant, so knitting tiny crap like a poncho for an action figurine is a great way to get rid of the leftovers. And finally, I am almost finished the first sock. When I'm done, that will be the perfect opportunity to start on the PonChew.

And hey, if you thought socks were portable, I'm sure that will be nothing compared to this. It's basically going to be nothing more than a swatch with a hole in the middle. I'm almost embarrassed to call it a whole project by itself, actually. Perhaps I shall give it an air of legitimacy by adding fringe.

Hillhead slipover for Grandpa

Recently, as I was switching between the 3mm and 2.75mm circulars on my Stornaway project, a truth hit me, giving me a sick, sinking feeling in my stomach. The needles currently in my Hillhead project - which I used during all of Saturday's knitting on it - were only the 'placeholder' needles I had stuffed through the stitches in order to free up my only 3mm circular for the Stornaway sweater.

Damn.

So all my Saturday knitting was useless. I'm going to have to rip it out and redo it with the correct size of needles.

I know, I know, I only knit one row on Saturday. No big deal, right? The problem is that I cut one of the yarn strands when I came to the end of a row in order to make a colour change for the next row. Since I used way-too-small needles, this is going to mean that when I redo the row, the colour whose strand I broke is not going to last me for the whole row. Crapola.

Striped socks for moi

Top ribbing on the first sock is very close to being done - just a few more rows, I estimate, and then I can cast off. After which I get to...uh...make the second sock. Woohoo.

I must not lose my focus. I must not succumb to Second Sock Syndrome. I must remember how delighted my footsies will be when I put on the new socks. I must remember how unwilling my footsies will be to share one sock. I. Will. Be. Strong.