The Art of Planning: The Beginning of the Countdown!

"Plans are nothing: planning is everything." - Dwight D. Eisenhower

7 Days 'till Sock Summit!

Started planning for Sock Summit today. I always make lists when I plan. It really is the only way I can get anything done. I never used to think of myself as distractable, but I'm finding over the years that I am very distractable. Here's an example:

I'm about to do the dishes so I can start my breakfast and coffee. When I have my breakfast and coffee, I surf the internet, check my emails and then I'm ready to start the day. I can't do any of that when I have a messy kitchen.

So I head off into the kitchen and start the dishes. Before I begin, I need to grab a paper towel because I notice the faucet is in desperate need of a wipe down. Not only does it need to get wiped down, but I suddenly notice that behind the faucet there is some wiping that needs to be done there.

Rather than start the dishes, I go to get a paper towel to take care of the faucet, but I find that the counter is cluttered and there are little crumbs that seem to have escaped me the day before. I wipe the crumbs off and tidy up the counter.

I go to throw the paper towel away and mean to get another, so I can go back to the sink, but I drop it and it falls to the ground. I go to pick it up and notice that, somehow, a strawberry slice escaped from last night's prep of some fruit salad, and it isn't pretty. This needs to be taken care of STAT.

After a bit of scrubbing, I finally go to throw this paper towel away. I flick the trash bin's lid up to dispose of it and am revealed of the horrors that lurk on the inside surface of the lid. This cannot stand. All other issues are forgotten as I try desperately to remove the stains that have been secretly amassing on the inside of this seemingly innocent lid.

Now, this domino effect continues until:

a. I realize my original intention, and I force myself to stop and go to complete

the original task, or

b. four hours pass and I'm a huddled mass in a fetal position on my (clean) floor

as I suffer from food and caffine deprevation. (A sad sight, indeed.)

In an effort to avoid this scenario, I have learned to make lists.

So on the top of my list was to get some audio books for the very long flight to Oregon. I think flying from Massachussetts to Oregon is just as long as flying over to England. I flew to England once, and it was a long flight. Typically I plan on having some well chosen audio clips for a trip, but in the last days' rush to pack, these things never get taken care of, and I end up taking whatever might be on my Ipod at the moment. Knowing this is how I roll, I put it on the top of the list.

I grabbed the second installment of the Twilight Series, New Moon. I also grabbed various podcasts of "This American Life" as well as some works from Neil Gaiman.

Another thing on my list is trying to decide what knitting I should bring for the flight, but am afraid to take anything on a cable needle since it might be looked at as more dangerous than regular knitting needles. Right now, my projects of choice to work on are the lace shawl and Entrelac Stole that I am currently working on.

I never thought I'd be knitting a lace shawl. I dabbled in some lace when I made my Embossed Leaves socks and eventually, my knitting path led me here:

Forest Canopy Shawl in Sanguine Gryphon's Free Range yarn (colorway Blue Hen).

It is a difficult colorway to photograph (even for me), and the yarn is just a wonderfully soft wool. It is called Free Range because it is organic wool. All the yarns are named after chicken breeds, which I think is just charming.


Pardon the photo below. I'll get something better when it is done and blocked. It sort of looks like a manta ray, but you get the general idea.



The other project that is addicting to knit is my Lady Eleanor Entrelac Stole from the Scarf Style book. It is knit in Noro Silk Garden.




I'm knitting in colorway #251, which has been discontinued. I saw this colorway worked into an entrelac scarf on Ravelry and thought it looked divine, so I knew when I was ready to tackle it, I had to get that colorway. I was able to find some on Ebay and even got matching lots! It looks very rustic and faded which is fitting since the stole was inspired by images of ladies walking in cold and drafty castles (no insulation, you know) and thus these ladies would benefit from a nicely knitted stole. I think it will do nicely to ward away chills at work and at home (no castles I'm afraid, but I like insulation).

I'm afraid to take either of these projects on the plane because they are being made on cable needles. I'm not sure that the cable needles would make it through security. I'm thinking about starting another pair of socks but doing them on double pointed needles rather than two-at-a-time on a cable needle.

Next on the list:

1. Get a project for the flight.
2. Organize the materials for classes.

Hopefully, I can plan enough that I won't be distracted (much).