Sleep? Food? Who needs 'em!

I have a confession. I'd rather knit than sleep. Heck, that's not all that shocking, but here's something that is: I'd rather knit than eat! (If you knew me, you'd understand just how shocking that is.)

Yesterday I fell victim to something the Yarn Harlot warns us about: Gauge swatches lie! I got to the heal flap of my test knitting sock and checked gauge. It's the first place to really do that since the leg is all in a nice pattern stitch. Although my gauge swatch had advised me to use needles a size smaller than the pattern specified, it lied. Like. A. Rug. Yup, the darned thing was too small.

Off to the frog pond! Undaunted, I decided to use the evening as an opportunity to start fresh with the needle size specified in the pattern.

That's when another truth reared it's ugly head: When you're self-employed, just as you plan a quiet evening, someone calls and offers you 1.5x pay to do a rush job. Of course, you can't possibly turn that down -- it just wouldn't make economic sense.

Thus I cast on for the sock while downloading the files I needed for the job. When I took breaks from transcribing, the sock received my attention. Around 12:30 last night (or more correctly, this morning), I finished the transcription.and thought, "Gee, I'm not really that tired. Might as well knit for a bit and catch up on some DVR recordings." Sounds innocent enough, right?

The next thing you know, I had finished the leg and the heel flap and was ready to turn the heel. That's when I looked at the clock and discovered it was 3:30 a.m.!

Reluctantly, I put the sock down and went to bed. This morning, after a refreshing four hours of sleep, my complete and total insanity was affirmed. Before I went downstairs, before I even thought about making, much less consuming coffee, I picked up the sock and turned the heel.

Fortunately, some level of sanity must remain, because I did manage to stop knitting, go make coffee, read the paper, eat a little breakfast, and actually do some transcription before I allowed myself to pick the sock up again.

By 3:00 this afternoon, I had a completed sock -- in the right gauge. Hooray! Now what is that strange feeling? Oh! I missed lunch completely!

But I'm strong, dear reader! So far, I've resisted the urge to cast on for the second sock and instead have paused to write this missive. I even managed to take a picture for you. Sorry you can't see the sock better, but it is a test knit, so I can't really show you detail.

My sweet Ellie cat is unamused by the sock and wonders why I bothered her during her afternoon bath-before-nap ritual. I suppose I can't expect her to understand. After all, she doesn't wear socks.