The consolation of socks

I think I am ready to put aside sweaters for a while.  

I knit on the (darn) purple sweater yesterday till my fingers bled, but I could not get the sleeve right.  Its miles too large and yet I am doing exactly what the pattern asks for.  A few people on ravelry note that the space is generous, but this is ridiculous.  It currently could fit my thigh.  And that is saying something.  

I just can't face redoing it again (twice already), so I am going to set it aside for a week or so.  Maybe more.  Maybe less.  I just cannot look at it right now.  

I knit on the shawlette for a while.  A long time really.  I have only 2 repeats left.  I want to keep that for group knitting so I decided to start on a sock.

It doesn't look like much, but I am pretty excited.  I decided early this year that one of my next knitting goals should be learning to get over my fear of patterns.  

I have no problem following patterns in lace shawls.  It doesn't feel like patterns to me in a shawl. But I have a thing about sock patterns.  They intimidate me a little.  I've never knit one of the online standard patterns.  

On the top of the yarn pile was a nice sock yarn, Footloose from Diamond yarns, in a nice mottled grey brown.  Very manly.  Mr. Needles could use some socks.  So I picked a nice easy thing to ease myself into the concept of following a pattern for socks. It is a little busy to show a subtle pattern like this, but the busy yarn will hide any flaws.  

The pattern is the Earl Grey sock pattern from Stephanie Pearl Mcphee.  It suits somehow, that after following her sock recipe to learn how to knit socks, the first 'pattern' I knit should be one of hers.  

After failing to read the pattern thoroughly enough to note that the cables roots begin in the ribbing, I feel confident that I will follow the pattern about as well as I usually do.  Still, it will be a sock when it is done.