I think I've lost control....

When I'm too busy for my own good--even if I'm enjoying the business--things get a little out of control. I'm sure many share of you might recognize these tell tale signs:

The apartment becomes an obstacle course.

Cheetos seem like a reasonable part of a daily meal plan.

The TiVO starts taping ridiculous suggestions like 3 hours of the"HBO on Demand" channel guide.

I want to do nothing but knit.

Instead of doing taxes, I add to the Ravelry queue behemoth.

I break my stash vow.

I begin knitting an entire sweater in sportweight yarn.

I purchase SIX SKEINS (uh, 2790 yards!) of sock yarn to make myself a TUNIC sweater.

It all seems perfectly reasonable, right?

I think it began with my taking 60 high school singers on the road for four days and three nights. Yup-- transporting, feeding, getting them to sleep, and rehearsing and performing with 60 perfectly lovely and imperfectly overly enthusiastic teenagers. It seemed reasonable when I was planning it. In reality, I knitted cabled socks while watching some 40 kids swim in a hotel-(not Olympic-) sized pool and riding a coach bus and watching Monsters, Inc. and Hairspray, the Musical for some 10 hours. The result:

Pattern: Helene Socks

Yarn: Hill Country Yarns Instant Gratification in Russet, stashed November 2007
Yarn Enabler: Hill Country Yarns Sock Club
Knitted on:Size 2 DPNs and Size 2 Knitpicks Harmony circulars.
Time spent knitting when I should have been planning for and more closely chaperoning a lot of kids: 27 days--Jan. 20-Feb. 5, 2008

I HATE DPNs. But I needed size two needles, so I did the first sock on DPNs while waiting for my now-much-loved Harmony circular Size 2s to arrive. And, well, these have an i-cord top and doing a 3-stitch I-cord on DPNs makes WAY more sense than on a circ anyway.

I love this YARN! Sproingy, great color, dense, and the heavier weight on small needles really works for this loose knitter. It shows off this great pattern, too.

I had wanter to start a more mindless project to bring with me on the trip, but because I became obsessed with the Helene socks, I began the Gathered Pullover after the trip ended. The mindless stockinette that comprises 80% of this sweater was a balm to my trip-rattled soul. I coldn't bring myself to really do a swatch, so I just did a sleeve as a swatch, ala Elizimmerman, and it worked out. Because I had fallen in love with I-cord as an edging for the socks, I decided to go with I-cord for the pullover too instead of the rolling stockinette edge. Anyway, here's a picture. Too boring for words.

Oh, and that sockweight tunic extravanganza? Check it out: Abotanicity.
Knit in Trekking Sock yarn. How much yarn for my size? 6 FREAKIN' skeins. Luckily (or unluckily), Webs has a sock yarn close-out of Online Supersocke. It arrived today.

Do I still seem reasonable?

Heck...if it looks to be crappy for a sweater, lots of people are going to get purplish striped socks for Christmas. 1/2 a dozen people to be exact.