AARGH!

Imagine Charlie Brown's cry of frustration after he believes Lucy won't move that football again . . . AARGH! That's the sound I made today.

I never knew I could be so competitive until I joined Sock Madness 2. I told myself that I wasn't going to worry about the 3rd round. Then, I received the 3rd round pattern, Slippin' Stripin' Socks. It came on a Thursday evening. I had lesson planning to do, my house was a mess, my children needed help for their school projects. . .I was behind in all areas of my life. But, there was this pattern, calling my name. ". .. Carol, cast me on . . . come on, you know you wanna . . . Carol . . ." Normally, I'm strong but I bowed to the pressure that was the pattern.

The sock had a totally new to me construction, knit with 2 strands of lace weight yarn. I cast on using JaggerSpun Zephyr in Emerald and Black. I knit until bed Thursday night.

I got up early Friday morning & finished the lesson planning that I needed for that day & wrote an algebra quiz. As soon as I finished, I knit until it was time to leave. After school, I went to my daughter's softball game. Of course, I knit while I was there. I ended up leaving early because I got a migraine. I was unable to knit the rest of the day & went to bed at 6 pm.

Saturday, I was still having problems with light sensitivity & recovering from the migraine so I didn't get to any of the softball or baseball games. I did use the time to knit & took several naps. Here's my sock Saturday morning. . .




I knit as much as I could Saturday & Sunday. I had to help the kids with their Science Fair projects & go get my taxes done. I decided that my grading & lesson planning could wait until Monday morning. The Sock Madness divisions were filling up quickly. About 9 o'clock Sunday night, I started to grow weary. My hands hurt, I was tired, & I wasn't sure I could continue. For a minute or two, I debated about staying up all night to finish the socks & still go to work. Then I toyed with the idea of staying up all night & calling in sick. Finally, I did the right thing & put my socks down so I could go to bed. When I got up at 4:30 Monday morning, all divisions were full.

As you can see, I was so close.



I'm full of "if only"s . .if only I didn't get a migraine Friday. . .if only I stayed up later Saturday night. . .if only I didn't help my kids & ignored my husband . . .I might have advanced to round 4.

I'm sure my family is happier now that I'm out. My husband supported me the first & second rounds. I don't think he was too pleased about this last round.

I plan to continue & will knit all the other rounds as the patterns are released. Maybe I can increase my speed so I'll get even further next year.