So, it’s the 2nd of July. One month today until The Day.

Which means, in order to get my pal’s socks to her in time, I have to post no later than 16th July. Which gives me two weeks to get them done. Two weeks that coincide with School Holidays (insert dramatic music here).

I have so far knit two and a half pattern repeats. The pattern calls for three on the leg, one on the foot, with an extra little bit to bring the yarn-over columns to a point on the foot, followed by plain vanilla knitting down to the toe. So I’d estimate I have knit about 30% of the first sock.

So, here’s the plan. I am making it my goal to knit a minimum of one pattern repeat (24 rows) or the equivalent per day. If I get more than that done, great. But I must knit at least those 24 rows each day, or I am not going to get this thing done in time.

Today’s minimum amount is to finish the third pattern repeat on the leg, knit the heel flap, and pick up the gussett stitches. This may not seem like a lot, but please bear in mind the following:

1. I am, by preference, a toe-up girl. I have knit exactly two (2) pairs of top down socks before this. I picked this pattern partly because it is beautiful, and partly in the spirit of challenging myself as a knitter. I have some difficulty in picking up gusset stitches evenly and without puckering. It will probably take me two or three goes to get it right.

2. It is School Holidays. Winter holidays. We live in quite a small house, with no room to run for two small boys. The backyard is a lovely big one, but it’s too cold and rainy to send them outside, so I will be attempting to pick up gusset stitches with them bouncing off the walls. I fully expect to have no voice at all by lunchtime (…and I’ll be happy to see those nice young men in their clean white coats, and they’re coming to take me away, ha-ha!).

Any and all donations of sanity vibes gratefully received.

Now, to very smoothly change the subject, I have had several comments (three on the blog, and a few in real life) on my Jaywalker mitts, of all things (who’d'a thunk it? I just whipped them up ’cause my hands were cold!). People seem to like them, so I am attempting to put together, not exactly a pattern, but some notes on how I converted the sock into a mitt. Here they are again:

With 5 x 2.25mm DPNs, I cast on 76 stitches, and worked five rounds garter stitch before beginning the Jaywalker pattern. I then continued until I had a length I was happy with for my wrist (46 rounds / 23 pattern repeats). I then changed to 2.75mm DPNs to start shaping for my hand, and worked another 10 rounds in pattern. Then, on the ‘knit plain’ round, I increased (kfb) at each end of each needle, and increase of 8 stitches all around, for a total of 84 (21 per needle). After another ten rounds, I did the same thing again, for a total of 92 stitches (23 per needle). Another four rounds brought me up to the base of my thumb (I had been trying it on every so often), so I transferred the stitches from one needle onto a thread, joined for knitting in the round, and continued on with four DPNs for the hand, another 16 rounds. Then I simply worked another five rows garter stitch and cast off loosely, after which I picked up the 23 stitches for the thumb (plus two extra stitches at the join) and worked five rounds garter stitch, casting off loosely. Repeat for the other hand.

The best part is, they are interchangeable. The biasing of the Jaywalker pattern kind of makes a thumb gussett all by itself, and they just automatically shape themselves to your hand, so you don’t need to adjust the pattern at all for left or right. All hail Grumperina for her brilliant pattern!