Summer Knitting Time is Hard to Find

I'm far too involved in gardening and outdoor activities to get much knitting done these days. As soon as I get home from work, I throw on my exercise clothes for a quick workout, then head outside for as much weeding, pruning and watering as I can get done before the sun sets. Needless to say, this doesn't leave much time for knitting between sunset and bedtime, especially when I still have the usual "chores" around the house to do.

When I do have indoor time, I am still far too fussy to sit and knit. I haven't been able to find an engaging audiobook to keep me occupied and seated. Even DVDs aren't helping me get knitting done. As you can imagine, the Boy Sock is not progressing very quickly. I really need to get past the gusset shaping by the middle of July so it can be tried on by the recipient.

The latest issues of various yarn catalogs have arrived and even they have nothing to entice me into starting a new project. The only thing inspiring me to knit at the moment is the fact that my black socks are just about beyond the point of repair and wearing. These were purchased socks, so no great loss, but I really could use another pair of black socks to replace them. I think I have some dark charcoal gray sock yarn that would come close to doing the job. I do think I will need to try a different pattern instead of the standard 2x2 rib or the beaded rib patterns which are my defaults. Perhaps Monkey Socks or another pair of Zombie socks. Something fairly simple, but also new to me. I don't think I'm up to the challenge of Rivendell at the moment. (I am tempted to come up with a matching sweater or shawl/stole pattern to coordinate with/complement these socks, but that will have to wait until fall.)