Doomed

My current knitting project is a pair of socks and, sadly, I've kind of fallen out of love with them. It makes it hard to work on them but I really want to get them finished so I can start on a pair of socks for Dan. But yeah, I just feel rather meh about them right now.

I've had some issues with these socks from the start - the crossed stitches and cables make the material a bit stiffer and less elastic which, combined with the fact that my ankles are a little larger than what the pattern anticipates, makes them rather snug fitting. I had this same issue with my first pair of socks (by the same designer) and I solved it by going up a needle size on the leg. It worked great but I forgot to do that with these socks. Ultimately, it's not a huge deal - the socks are still wearable and I know this yarn relaxes a bit after blocking - so while I'm nervous about how these will fit, I'm not really worried (if that makes sense). But the lack of elasticity does seem to tighten up my gauge even more, making the project a little rough on my hands and even less elastic, which makes me tighten up my gauge... You get the idea.

Even more fun, I'm using the only size US1.5 needles I had when I started this project, a pair of Chiaogoo circs. I'm using two circs at a time to make two socks at a time and... I just don't like the needles. I mean, yeah, I like the texture and the points, but the needles are too long to feel comfortable in my hand and the red cable, while I can see why others like it, is really starting annoy me. It adds so much weight and resistance to my project.

And the yarn is just annoying me. It's kind of sticky feeling and was causing a lot of issues during the crossed stitches - catching and splitting and the like. Such a pain! Especially since I have a fair bit more of this yarn in different colors I'm one day going to have to use up. Oh, and I'm pretty sure I'm just about done staring at this color green, too.

If I haven't been whining enough, let me just say that the crossed stitches and cables make this project so slow! And I don't mind project that aren't done in a flash, but I do like to have a rhythm when I knit. And crossing half the stitches on a row does not allow for anything resembling a smooth rhythm. I have decided to skip the crossed stitches pattern on the foot of the sock because of the aforementioned fit issues (while they will fit now, adding a crossed stitch pattern around the gusset would have guaranteed they would not have fit when done), but I won't deny that I'm happy to not have to do them anymore. Stockinette is so much happier.

Hopefully I'll be able to push through and finish these socks up and none of my grumpiness will carry over to the finished product. Maybe once they are done, I'll remember why I wanted to do them in the first place - the pattern is really cute! But for now, I'm kind of feeling like they are doomed.