Timeline of Madness

Sometime Friday, April 24: The final match of Round 2 is decided and it is announced that Sock Madness Round Three, The Elite Eight, would begin Saturday April 25th (pattern release at 11pm my time)

Saturday, April 25, 10:30pm: The yarn, needles and netbook are gathered by the bed. The children are asleep and I am ready.

10:55pm: Can't help myself, I begin compulsively hitting "refresh" on the pattern page.

10:59pm: My recent refresh reveals the pattern's release...I download the pattern and cast on

11:35pm: Can no longer delude myself that my gauge is accurate. This sock will fit an elephant if I keep going on 2.75mm. I curse my swatch (which had promised a bang-on 8sts per inch) and switch to 2.5mm.

12:15am: Success! The picot cuff is done and I'm hitting a rhythm with the lacy ribbing.

12:30am: Gabriel decides he's not really asleep. Break to get him back down.

2:35am: Am most of the way down the leg. Tired. Have to get up early for swimming lessons. Go to sleep.

Sunday, April 26th, 8:00am: start getting everyone dressed and out the door for swimming lessons.

9:15am:in the van, knitting on the way to lessons

9:45am: Gabriel's tumbling portion of Scuttle and Puddle. No time to knit as Phil and I take turns helping him use the equipment

10:30am: Grace and Gabriel in the pool for swimming lessons. I'm on the bench next to Cam (who had been sick over the weekend and had not felt up to swimming) knitting down the leg, not making much progress.

11:30am: Everyone's out of the pool and in the van getting ready to head to New Glasgow to celebrate my cousin's daughter's 4th birthday. I have 2 hours in the van in which to knit. It's time to get down to business.

2:00pm: My heel is turned and I am working my way down the foot. Set it aside so I can swim with my kids at the pool party for a while, but pick it back up later in the party room while the kids eat cake and see what goodies the birthday girl got.

4:30: Hanging out at Karen's, knitting, eating bbq, drinking a glass (or two) of wine, knitting, catching up with family and generally enjoying myself.

7:00pm Kitchener the toe of sock one. Dance a little to celebrate. Work provisional cast on for sock two, pack everyone back into the van for the trip home.

8pm and later: Knitting in the dark proves to be slow going. Phil insists that keeping the map light on does not bother him, but I feel too inconspicuous as we pass cars on the highway, so I use it sparingly. Manage to work picot cuff, and a few repeats of the lace ribbing in the 2 hours it takes us to get home.

10:30pm Have kids mostly settled and I pick up the sock as I check out ravelry to see if my competitor has posted. She has, saying that her picot cuff on sock 2 was done. Post was 5 hours old. I kick the knitting into high gear.

3:00am: My shows are over and I am struggling to stay awake as I knit down the foot. I consider just giving in and going to sleep, I am so tired and my hands are starting to really ache.

3:15am: I refresh the ravelry page to see a new private message pop up. It's from Owlknits, who I am knitting against. She's halfway down the foot of the second sock, how am I doing? I look at my sock...I am more than halfway down the foot. I say aloud to no one "I think I can beat her". I rally, wide awake now and knit like a fiend.

4:50am With shaking hands I graft the toe closed. I grab the camera, snap a couple photos, urge my computer to hurry and load. My husband wakes as I am attaching the photo to an e-mail to send to Dyenamics Yarn and asks me if I've won. "I don't know. Owlknits is being quiet. I have no idea." E-mail sent, post in thread made. He tells me to turn off the computer, and come to bed.

5:35am: Can't sleep. Combination of over-tired and nerves preventing my mind from shutting down.

5:45am: Finally drifting off, just in time for my husband's alarm to go off. He laughs at my grumbling. Back to sleep I go.

8:35am: Have gotten Cam off to school. Resist urge to check e-mail. Head back to bed and sleep.

11:30am: Children finally have enough dozing and watching TV in mommy's room. We get up, get breakfast. Cam comes home, we make lunch (yep. Grace ate breakfast, then ate lunch 10 minutes later, lol). With everyone munching and coffee brewing, I have a minute to check my e-mail.

There it is. A message from Dyenamics.

I've done it. I beat out Owlknits...by a mere 33 minutes.

I'm in the Final Four.


Yarn: Blue Moon Fibre Arts Socks that Rock Lightweight, Scottish Highlands colourway.