I always have a sock on my needles. Ever since I started sock knitting two years ago, I have at least one sock going. They’re great travel knitting, they’re useful, they’re small, I don’t need a pattern for my favorites, and I get to use fun sock yarn. But I’ve discovered that the yarn is a key part of this equation. Maybe not surprising to you — I mean, yarn is one of the best parts of this knitting obsession, right? — but it always surprises me. I have this sock I’ve been working on for a while. I don’t even know how long because I didn’t start a project in Ravelry, but maybe a couple of months? And this is what I have so far:

It’s not very much, given my usual sock-knitting rate. And I realized it’s because I don’t love the yarn. It’s a Zauberball and while I think the colors are fun, I don’t like how it feels. It’s a rougher yarn than I prefer, and I’m afraid it will be scratchy on my feet. (Yes, I know feet aren’t as sensitive as necks or foreheads or arms, but believe me, I’ve had some problem socks.) The girl has asked for a reprieve from new socks for a while. Who else would want possibly itchy purple-ish socks? I don’t know. So while I’m tempted to frog, I’ve set them aside into hibernation and last night I cast on a new, fun sock.

Much better: fun colors and SOFT yarn! This is Apothefaery Fabrications Middle of the Road Sock yarn that I got at my LYS and it’s going to be Beautiful Socks. Yes, capitals!

I just need my knitting to get back to bringing me comfort again. I’ve struggled with my knitting mojo this summer, my everything mojo if I’m being honest, and I need my knitting to be where I succeed and do what feels good for me. After the big Fade project and then the dog sweater test knit, I need selfish knitting. And not even just knitting for me; I need knitting that is driven by my creativity and my inspiration and my ideas. I have one more review project on my needles that’s almost done, and after that I might take a little break. We’ll see. There’s been a lot on my mind this summer and I’m looking ahead to taking the girl back to college and our looming house renovation project, so I might not have the mental energy for much more than comfort knitting.