You’ve cast your votes as to how best I should end my sock knitting delinquency, and Retro Rib is the clear winner. And just to show how disciplined I am, I’m going to take your advice even though I was leaning toward Pomatomus. C’mon, it’s so much more fun! I love watching the scales form, and I love the Claudia Handpainted Plumlicious colorway. But my Retro Ribs are Claudia Handpainted, too, so I’ll have to be content. And this way I can use Pomatomus as a reward for my diligence later on.

Alas, the Retro Rib socks are not my oldest unfinished object. There’s still poor Charlotte to seam and (hopefully) shrink. There’s half a cotton baby hat lying around somewhere. There’s a fifth of a Lotus Blossom shawl lurking among my laceweight yarns. There’s kid sweater with no arms (and no kid) on the closet shelf.

So what am I doing? Thinking of new projects, of course. I cross my heart and swear to finish the Prairie camisole before I cast on anything else — I’m halfway up the back — but I confess I’m already swatching for an Elizabeth Zimmermann Fishtrap cardigan for Mr. Garter. Here’s what it will look like (hopefully) — just imagine it in a tweedy natural wool:

I’d seen the above pictures of the original courtesy of Jen, and then I ran across an old and dog-eared copy of The Knitter’s Almanac in the Powell’s on Hawthorne the other day. Mr. Garter liked the look of the sweater, and I’ve owed him a knitted garment for a long time. The man’s been my partner for six years and all he’s gotten is a lousy scarf. (It’s not really lousy: it’s actually a very handsome scarf, if I say so myself. It’s Grignasco Top Print alpaca, and a tour de force of seed stitch.) Mr. Garter’s version of the Fishtrap will have a zipper rather than buttons, as he is sporty rather than tweedy. This means I’ll be both steeking and sewing in a zipper for the first time — on the same project. Next month will mark two years since I learned to knit, and I think this will be an appropriate way to raise the bar for myself.

But never fear: the Retro Rib sock will be completed before its mate is a year old. I swear it shall be done. The Fishtrap is a pretty complex little beast with all those travelling stitches, so it will be nice to counterpose some fairly simple sock knitting.

We’re up visiting my parents on the island until Thursday, but happily my father has the same camera set-up, so I hope to post pictures from here. Mingus the Cat has come along on the trip for the first time, much to his dismay. He expressed his disinclination for the car ride by throwing up his breakfast between my feet somewhere near Kelso. Thank goodness he missed the knitting bag. Prairie camisole certainly doesn’t need that kind of adornment. I think he’ll like Friday Harbor once he gets used to the new surroundings, though. He’s already running around exploring every nook and cranny so he can get comfortable.