Red and White Socks Angst

Greetings and Dear Cynthia,

With everything you described in your last post, I am amazed by your calmness. Now that you have your "emergency knitting bag" ready to go, perhaps you won't *need* it any more! I hope that everybody continues to improve toward full recovery.

Thank you for your very kind reviews of my Tangled Yoke Cardi. It really was a wonderful pattern to knit, and I'd make another one in a heartbeat! I've worn the sweater four times this week. I'm glad for the grossgrain ribbon along the front edges, too. Without being too stiff, it really does give the front bands some needed (in my opinion) stability.

In a move which is making me quite suspicious, TODAY, my seven year old, also known as "tee-shirt boy," is wearing the Fana cardigan I made for him two years ago. This past winter, as I've been wearing a long sleeved knit shirt underneath a wool sweater every day, he has been wearing tee shirts. (Our house has an average temperature of about 64 degrees F, but it doesn't seem to phase him.) I have practically begged him to wear this sweater on a few special occasions, because it looks so nice on him, but for the most part, he has just never wanted to wear it (because "it itches"). So, this morning, when he came downstairs **wearing** his Fana cardigan, VOLUNTARILY and WITHOUT ANY WARNING, I was shocked. Should I be concerned? Things that make a mom go hmmmmm.......

In my continued preparation for starting grad school in June, I'm happy to report that I passed my background check. The next thing I'm tackling is making sure I'm immune to Measles, Mumps, Rubella, Hepatitis B, Chicken Pox, and verifying that I don't have TB. Immunization records are not enough for this -- I must have my blood drawn and checked for the various antibodies...

Anyway, spring is springing and life is good.

Here are the red and white socks in progress:
I spent considerable mental energy trying to determine whether or not I could live with the **different** heels. The words of one of my former bosses echoed in my head: "Perfect" is the enemy of "good enough." I decided these heels were going to drive me crazy, and were not "good enough", so I ripped back to where the tangled yarn is in this next picture, removed two rows of red and two rows of white knitting, and then continued on up the sock. (For anybody keeping score at home, that one heel was knit THREE times. I guess the third time really is the charm.)Note that when I got to the top of the sock by row count, the top red stripe was skinnier than on the first sock...so, I knit a few extra rows and called it a day. And so, one sock has more rows of knitting in it than the other sock. Not in my character, but you know, "perfect" really is the enemy of "good enough."

Finished!:Mission Possible 2008: nine down, three to go.

Would you believe I have a similar, only longer, list of Mission Possible sewing projects, too? I've been so much more productive on the whole lot of it just by giving it all a little bit of focus. I know that when school starts in June, my time is going to be re-allocated, and I don't know how much time I'll have for my hobbies, so I'm trying to crank through lots of loose ends now! It actually makes my brain feel less cluttered, too!

Have a great weekend!
Warm regards,
Laura (YarnThrower)