A Better Monkey

I am slugging along on a new Monkey sock. I actually started this back in May, right after I posted about my first Monkey attempt. I am using C*eye*ber Fiber in the Riverbed colorway, purchased at the Cloverhill booth at Stitches East 2006. I couldn't be more pleased with how the yarn and pattern are working together.



I originally picked the Monkey pattern by Cookie A. to be my first
non-ribbed sock because I was looking for a pattern that worked well
with a variegated sock yarn. It seems that many of the intricate sock
patterns look best in a solid yarn. So, in my Web searching, I stumbled
across the Monkey and right in the pattern intro, Cookie says she
designed to flatter a hand-dyed variegated Canadian yarn. Perfect, I
thought! And in the C*eye*ber Fiber, I found the perfect match.

I didn't like the pooling on the Tess yarn in the Monkey. I do love the
Tess yarn though, both the color and the way it feels. It is a joy to
hold and work with. I definitely want more sometime soon. I know I'll
find a better pattern for the Tess yarn.



But the Monkey pattern is so much fun and I wanted it to be the star. I could
have continued w/ the Tess version, but I knit slow, especially socks. Yes, I could have just started a new pair and left the old pair hanging, an abandoned work in progress. I haven't thoroughly thought through myWIP philosophy, but I tend to have fewer projects going, two or three, in various stages of completion and difficulty. I don't like having something sit, neglected, for many months at a time. It's like need to file (hello house paperwork, I'm looking at you) or organizing the linen closet
(which I NEED to do since we unpacked after the move. I just sort of threw everything in and the unorganized state of it drives me crazy just thinking about it!).

I will ignore the filing and the organizing until I just can't anymore. But I never really forget about it. It silently nags at me. But I don't expect to enjoy these tasks when I do them, though I do get joy out of completing them. But knitting is different. I do get joy from it and I don't want it to nag me. Because then it feels like chore.

So, even though I didn't completely frog my first Monkey, I am not planning to go back to it. I left it in tact, though off the needles, because, hey, unraveling cuts
into my precious knitting time!

So, while I started this in May, I am only just a few pattern repeats into the foot. It's been a bit neglected as I race to finish the Half Pi Shawl for my mother. In a
week I am off to Wisconsin and Michigan for a family vacation and I'll give it to her then. I'm almost there. The Monkey will surely beaccompanying me and will gets lots of attention while I sit on the Lake Michigan banks.