Sloppy Seconds

Sock #1 in Claudia's Hand Painted Yarn 'Eat Your Veggies'
The appeal of the Sock Challenge is wearing off mighty quick...and it all has to do with a phenomenon many will perhaps identify with, that of the mind numbing tedium of the second sock. That initial rush of pleasure and excitement provided by the first sock, that well-known first blush of romance that happens as you discover how the yarn reveals itself (what's coming next in the pattern? More stripes? A Fair-Isle motif?) is sorely missing and turns into drudgery, a form of knitting torture. From tout beau tout nouveau to familiarty breeds contempt. The difference between the first and second sock is somehow massive. Why is this? What's the big deal? I need someone to bitch slap me back into reality and remind me that I am not being held against my will at a secret CIA prison in Eastern Europe and being required under pain of death to knit as a way of saving my life. No, I am just trying to complete a pair of socks.To make matters worse, I have accumulated even more sock yarn since my last post. Yes, that's right, your eyes are not playing tricks on you, I said more sock yarn. How quickly innocent shopping, accumulating and collecting becomes pathological hoarding! More Froehlich Wolle Blauband Jacquard and a super cute little number called GypsyKnits Traveling Sock Kit purchased at my LYS. Like I really needed this? What is the point of trying to make a dent in your sock yarn stash if you're only going to keep buying more yarn? Uff-da!