So I decided that today I would start on the Monkey socks by Cookie A. In keeping with my newfound desire to do things correctly, I was going to swatch it and then go from there. I remembered the pattern calling for size 1.5 dpns. I had no idea where to get those, but I thought I’d do the swatch on size 1 needles and go from there. So then I brought the yarn I’m going to use and the needles to work today, and looked over the pattern once more. It turns out that Monkeys are made on size 2 needles. So what I have right now is not going to cut it. I felt pretty stupid, but realized that all was not lost. I could just swatch another pattern, right? Except no, because pretty much all of the other pattern I want to make are somehow on size 2 and 3 needles. No 1s, no 1.5s. I don’t know if I just liked different patterns last night, but I’m not even sure which of the patterns I read and wanted to make even required 1.5 needles.

Luckily, I still have two pairs of socks to make (for Stephanie and Terea), and I want to prevent boredom by doing something different, so I found a pattern that requires size 1s: Spring Forward! I’m going to swatch this now and see how it comes out. Thankfully, I kept the remaining Lorna’s Laces from my last pair of Jaywalkers in my bag (I was going to use it as waste yarn when I cast on my toe). I’m using the same yarn in different colors for these socks, so I guess I really haven’t lost any time. I just hate making stupid mistakes like that.

I was a little burnt out after I finished The Boy’s scarf, and to tell the truth, my fingers still get phantom cramps when I think about how much knitting I did at the end of December, but I now need some mittens, and I think it’s time for me to attempt some. I hate mittens, though, because you have to whip them off every time you need to use your fingers, which just sucks. I like the idea of convertible mittens, and I found a pattern that I think I understand, so I’ll be attempting those soon (soon being within the month of January). I actually started them last night, but I didn’t have the right size needles, and I didn’t feel like being an innovator, so I ripped them out. I am interested in training myself to knit without a pattern for things other than scarves, but I don’t think that this is the right project with which to begin my liberation from the tyranny of patterns.

Update: I wrote this in January. It is now August of 2008, I don’t even remember starting/stopping this pattern, and there is no more Boy. So a lot has changed. But I guess this explains why I saw the tag “knitting ennui” when I went to write a new post today!