Fear of Commitment?

Maybe.

After announcing to all of knitting blogdom the advent of my upcoming Toe Up Sock Knitting Adventure, little niggling thoughts began tickling the back of my brain. Doubts and fear began to creep into my subconscious, giving me crazy nightmares and random flashes of goose-pimply, gut-tickling shivers throughout the day.

First thought to rear it's ugly, guilt-inducing head was the list of unfinished projects cluttering up my normally spacious, but now dangerously over-crowded, craft studio. It whispered, "Wouldn't it be more prudent to knock off a few of those before attempting an epic journey through toe-up sock knitting that may well take a couple years. After all, Hockeyman's Blanket is so close to done; and that Center Medallion sweater you know you couldn't stand to wear because it is too itchy and plan to recycle into a tote-bag or pillow . . ."

Next, the overwhelming stash of yet untouched yarn began a siren song of lonely longing, calling me, calling me to, "Go ahead and cast on that Fair Isle cardigan, the lime green summer cardigan, the purple cotton hoodie . . . And what about the Fair Isle hat and mittens you purchased yarn for before going on Fiber Fast 2010 - it is so lovely and quick to knit. It's okay, go ahead and submit to startitis. It's what you do best."

Finally, stark and raving fear crept up on me. What if I run out of sock-knitting steam half way through the book; what if all my bloggy friends find out what a flaky, easily-distracted ditzy dame I really am . . . Oi, what have I gotten myself into?

After some serious soul searching and stern, self-directed lectures and very inspirational internal speeches, I decided to follow through on my original plan to knit my way through Socks from the Toe Up, with some minor alterations to the plan.

First of all, I will knit my way straight through the book, one pattern at a time, starting with the Plain Vanilla patterns before moving onto the more exciting lace sock patterns.

However, after each pair of completed socks, I will finish (or frog) one unfinished project. My goal is to finish one pair of socks and to finish one UFO per month. However, if the UFO in question takes longer than the remainder of the month, I will cast on the new sock and continue to work on two projects until one or both are finished. I will include other crafts in the UFO completion marathon, like the rug hooking project I'm half done with and some unfinished quilts in my sewing basket.

Once the UFO's are eliminated from my over-flowing craft room, then I will allow myself to cast on a new project after each pair of socks.

Another goal is to burn through some of my stash (hence, Fiber Fast 2010), so I will use up all my accumulated stash of sock yarn before purchasing any new. However, once I have run out of sock yarn, I will allow myself to purchase sock yarn, even if Fiber Fast 2010 has not concluded.

Henceforth, I will be referring to 2010 as the year of Toe Up Sock Knitting And Unfinished Object Finishing Extravaganza, or TUSKAUFOFE for short. I am taking the plunge and putting this commitment out into the blogging world with the hope that it will be motivation enough to urge me forward to meet the goal of unlimited sock exploration, endless UFO elimination and ending world hunger . . . okay, maybe I'm getting carried away.

In the meantime, I did have a couple of prior commitments to live up to before diving into TUSKAUFOFE full time. Therefore, I submit for your approval HABS 2010. Granted, they are a month and a half too late for Hubby's birthday but I figured I'd better finish them off before getting too wrapped up in TUSKAUFOFE. He's very patient but with the Hockey Expo and High School Hockey State Tournament this weekend, he really needed a new pair of warm wool socks to keep his toesies all toasty.

I also promised a Ravelry friend that I'd test knit a new pattern for her (Ravelry link). I am working on that at the moment and plan to finish tonight or early tomorrow.

Oh, and on a sock knitting note, I have been attempting the short-row toe used by the first sock pattern in Wendy's book and not having a great deal of success. So far, I've knit and ripped 4 separate toes. I understand the directions but when I start picking up the wraps with the stitches and knitting them together, I keep dropping stitches and getting things all tangled up. Grrrrr!

Perhaps my mistake was trying to cast on and knit short-row toes late at night, by the light of a small lamp, so I wouldn't disturb my sleeping hubby during my commitment-phobic, anxiety-induced insomnia last night. I'm hoping attempting this new-to-me toe pattern will go better in full daylight, and after a full and restful night of sleep. IF I can actually go to sleep tonight without dreaming of half-finished socks chasing me through crowded warehouses of whining UFO's and lovely, lonely yarn singing alluring songs in the background.

After all, I am a flaky, easily-distracted ditzy dame who gets all goose-pimply from time to time. Not a pretty picture but, hey, you all are likely to figure it out sooner or later.