Divided Time

Whenever I get through a large project or the deadline knitting that comes with the end of the year, I turn into a squirrel of casting on -- starting with wild  abandon multiple knitting projects which have had to wait "just until I finish X."

And monogamous knitting is a rarity around here, the lace shawl sprint in December not withstanding. Realistically I need at least one project which doesn't require extensive attention which may be hauled hither and yon throughout my days and forms of public transit. Possibly two, because one can get tedious right?

Ever a creature of habit, I've cast on a sock. This was my New Years Eve knitting, started at the party to ring the new year in. It is Blue Moon Fiber Arts Socks that Rock Lightweight in the Harvest Star colorway. My usual 1x1 rib sock, 60 stitches.  I'm about halfway through the heel flap of the first sock.  This year I do intend to make a few pair of socks to supplement my own sock drawer, which got no new additions in 2019. 

Most of my passive knitting time thus for for 2020, however, has been this log cabin square, which is currently sitting at 19.5" across. The goal is 36" -- which, if my math serves, should be another full five rounds. I've got plenty of yarn, that's not a concern, but I'm starting to run out of oomph on this project, despite my usual love of garter and log cabins. I just hit the 100 stitches mark in the amount I'm picking up.  It's a gift that needs to be wrapped up fairly soon; so it will continue on the commute  knitting. If I can average one rectangle per day I could nearly have it done by February. Never mind that each new rectangle picks up another 200 stitches. 

But of course all of my other knitting gets shuffled aside anytime I get to work on the Hot Pink Aello. I just finished row 13 on Sunday night. The pattern is now changing on each right side row, fortunately it's a very intuitive change.  Even so, 433 stitches take time, and I had several moments of wondering how I managed to end up with 19 stitches in the occasional repeat.  Apparently I cannot always be trusted to slip-slip-knit as required. 

But there's clearly been work done, visibly stitches than I had at the beginning of the weekend.  So that's something to be pleased by even if it hasn't just fallen off the needles as a complete object in mere days.  

Now back into the week I'm unlikely to have hours to sit and work on this lace, no matter how much I may wish to do so.  (Lace is far more interesting than general email management most of the time.) But spreading out what knitting time I have does mean I feel like I'm not actually making much progress on anything. Everything gets a little bit of work and while it will all eventually add up, like the papers I have been finishing and sending off to journals at work it all feels so incremental as to not be actual progress.  This of course is compounded by a couple of knitterly friends who have already finished at least one of their projects for Loopy Graduate Academy this semester. I must remember that I am competing with myself,  not them, and we all have different knitting speeds and time available.

Maybe if I just get one more row done, though....