In Which the Pirate Gets Jump-Started.

Like so many people I know, I am a procrastinator. Getting started is the hardest part of a project for me. Once I get going, the momentum will keep me working for a while. The other day I was linked to an amazing post from Make Great Stuff titled Getting Jump Started, and I thought it would be a great thing to try.

Sometimes I’m hesitant to start working on a project because I don’t think that I have enough time to really get into it. But most of my hobbies are cumulative, in that I don’t have to work in big chunks at a time. If I read a chapter a night, I’ll finish the book eventually. If I practice for twenty minutes a day, I’ll actually improve faster than if I spend two and a half hours at it once a week. And if I knit a few rows whenever I have some down time, I’ll have new socks sooner than if I only pick up the knitting when I have a lot of time free.

But twenty minutes… I have lots of twenty minuteses. Last night I had an hour free with nothing planned – I had three blocks of twenty minutes! Suddenly I felt as if I could do three things instead of none! So I read two chapters of my book, played guitar for a little bit, and finished the heel flap and turn on the second Sibling Sock (this bit took more than twenty minutes, but that’s kind of the point; you don’t have to stop working just because the timer goes off). Tonight I’ll pick up the stitches for the gusset and work on the decreases, and pretty soon I’ll be able to take the sock along with me again. I tend to leave even the simplest socks-in-progress at home when I’m at a section that requires counting (like a heel flap) or concentration (like a heel turn). Now that my wrists are feeling better and the sock will soon be past the heel, I can bring it out in public.

I did have some trouble with the heel turn numbers until I found where I’d scribbled notes for new numbers on the back of the pattern. Before I publish this, I will either have to knit sample heels in both sizes to check that I’ve got it right, or I will have to recruit some test knitters. I’m excited to be preparing a second pattern to share with the world! When I’ve finished the pair, I might treat myself to a pair of nice sock blockers so that I can take better pictures of them.

For the curious or potentially-interested, the Sibling Socks are knit with Trekking XXL on size 0 needles at 45 stitches/4 inches. There seems to be a lack of free fine-gauge sock patterns out there, and I hope this pattern will help fill that gap.