Week 10 - In Which the Madness Begins

The annual Madness has started....Sock Madness.  Yes, folks, SM11 began on Thursday at 2:00 p.m. my time.  With the release of the pattern entitled Twisted Madness, the international sock speed-knitting contest has begun.  I downloaded the pattern and printed it out as soon as it came out but I needed to finish work before I could cast on.  Once home, the needles and yarn were put to use immediately.  I diligently knitted that evening, again on Friday once we got home from running errands, and again on Saturday and even today...I got as far as the gusset/heel and then ......then....I noticed several things.  First, the sock was never going to fit over my heel. Second, there were 3 different mistakes on each of 2 different rows on the leg, Third, I'd somehow knit row one of the pattern twice in the heel and really messed up the whole thing!  Since this pattern involves twisted stitches - a lot of twisted stitches - there was nothing I felt I could do except rip the whole thing out and start again, this time on larger needles and paying much better attention to what I was knitting.  So now, I've knit the cuff and 14 rows of the 60 rows I need on the leg before I can start the heel/gusset again.   Most of you might say, no big deal...but let's add in the fact that I lost 2+ days of knitting and I MUST get the pair done by 2:00 p.m. on Thursday, March 16th and you can probably see why I might be just a tad stressed.  I've been having a really good heart-to-heart with myself this evening and I believe I have come up with something that makes me not so stressed.  You see, the whole idea of qualifying was to get onto a team and compete...that's what I've done each of the last 10 years.  But, if I can be satisfied, this year, to only finish one sock, then I will not be put on a competition team BUT will be on Team Cheerleader and still get all the patterns. Not bad consolation, right?  All the pressure is off me now...I know I can get one sock done by the deadline....if I get another one done, so much the better.  So I'm knitting the sock correctly and not worrying about getting a pair done.

Yesterday was a lovely day here in the Ozarks, a bit chilly but sunny and bright.  John got the harrow from our neighbor and spent the morning harrowing the two fields so the cows didn't have to dodge their cowpies ....the harrow is so maneuverable that he was able to use Eyeore, our Kawasaki mule to pull it around the fields.  

Mom and I have dentist appointments on Tuesday and then we are going to see the movie The Shack.  We both loved the book and are so excited to see how Hollywood treated it.  I always saw Queen Latifah as the main character but I see that Octavia Spencer has the role.  I really enjoy her acting so I think she will do justice to the role of God.  Will report back next week how the movie measured up.

Thanks for stopping by.