New job, new me

I’ve started my new job, and for some reason, I’ve decided I also need to simultaneously become a more focused and productive person in my personal life. Because starting a new job isn’t stressful enough.

This new master plan has meant a rigorous schedule of tasks and to-dos each night after work. It’s silly stuff, but the kind of stuff I hadn’t been doing when I was at my old job, like dry cleaning and getting non-urgent prescriptions filled and grocery shopping.

All this running around means very little knitting has been done because I’ve got Things To Do. My first Sockapalooza sock is at the gusset, and it’s looking awfully small (my friend Kelley, in her diplomatic fashion, asked “what kind of freaky midget foot is that going to fit?” Sigh). Also, I’m pretty sure I’m going to run out of yarn. I think that with every single sock I knit, so this doesn’t really mean it WILL happen time, but it’s best to be emotionally prepared. Thankfully, the Yarn Diet has a special provision for running out of yarn mid-project, and pretty much all my socks do turn out too small, so I’m fully prepared.

And speaking of the Yarn Diet, I’m at 13 days and feel like I should get some kind of chip or button (or reward yarn, but I suppose that would defeat the purpose entirely). Though I didn’t have my first real challenge until Monday night. One of the new job’s many charms is that the building is located directly across the street from a lovely yarn shop. In fact, if I crane my neck out my window, I can see right in their windows. In the Bad Old Days, I would have popped in on my way home from work as a little reward for finishing my first day.

And truthfully, I did look take a longing peek in as I walked past, and my heart did race a little as I saw the enormous ‘SALE’ signs plastered in the window, but I had Things To Do. There were Groceries to Buy. And Dishes to Wash. So I walked on. Yay me!

As for the diet-busting Sockapalooza sock itself, there’s no good reason I’m so far behind. The Embossed Leaves pattern is fantastic: easy enough to knit without really paying attention after the first few rows, but interesting enough to keep my attention. And the results are quite fetching, don’t you think?



The only problem I’ve had with the pattern (besides it turning out too small and using too much yarn) is that each row begins with two purl stitches. I usually rejigger my stitches on the needles to prevent starting a row with a purl stitch, as my beginning-of-needle purls turn out all loose and wonky. I didn’t do that on this sock, and my purl stitches did indeed come out a little floppy-looking.

So is there a secret I don’t know to good-looking purl stitches at the beginning of a row? And since I clearly don’t know the secret yet, do you think the floppiness will smooth out after a nice, firm blocking?

Also, anyone want to take bets on whether I’m actually going to finish two of these bad boys in time for the Sockapalooza deadline???