My Aspirations are Bigger than My Ability

In my family, Thanksgiving was and is all about the side dishes and the desserts. My grandmother does many things well, but cooking is not one of them. I would usually take only a small pity piece of her dried up turkey, and totally pass on the store-bought lemon meringue pie she stuck into the broiler, lit on fire, cut the top off, and lit on fire again (this happened multiple years). The side dishes would steal the show: I would pile my plate with Ritz casserole, cheesy potatoes, mashed potatoes, and rolls, making sure to leave room for dessert. After finishing my plate of food, I would greedily choose 2 or sometimes even 3 desserts. Inevitably, I would end the meal sitting with a somewhat pained expression on my face, ice cream melting on my plate, and nearly-whole pieces of pie and cookies floating in the ice cream soup. My grandfather, quite correctly, would then quip: "I see your eyes were bigger than your stomach!"

This is about knitting, I promise. Read on.

This will be my first year participating in the Ravellenic Games. (I suppose it's everyone's first year participating in a competition with that title, since it was formerly called something else, but you get my point). When choosing my goal for the games, I wanted to challenge myself, and I also wanted to tackle some things from my queue. After a little thought, I settled on three goals:

1) Add buttons to two baby sweaters I have already completed: The Gramps Cardigan and the Puerperium Cardigan.
2) Finish one I love Stockinette bib for my brother's baby girl due in October
3) Complete my first pair of socks, Hermione's Everyday Socks.

I was SO EXCITED about these goals. I printed the patterns, got the yarn and needles ready, bought the buttons, and put up temporary pictures on my Ravelry projects page. Yay!

Then I remembered something I read in one of the Stephanie Pearl McPhee's books. She said that it took her something like approximately 17-20 hours to make one pair of socks. This is someone who knits socks all the time, and could probably turn a heel in her sleep. Between working and taking care of my 5-month-old son, where am I going to find time to finish socks, a bib, and finish those cardigans?

My eyes, it seems, are still bigger than my stomach.

In a recent podcast, Alana Dakos talked about the things she plans to knit in her "knitting fantasy life" (e.g. stuffed animals for everyone in her daughter's class!). I can relate. Again, with the introduction of a baby to my life, I spend a lot more time thinking about knitting and dreaming about all the things I'd like to make than actually knitting. I think some modified goals are in order.

I really need to do the buttons, but either the bib or the socks have to go. The big is the more realistic commitment, and there's more of a deadline for that one (my sister-in-law's baby will not wait on me!). However, the socks would be a big challenge, and I already bought a beautiful skein of Malabrigo sock at my local yarn store to make them with. I have until tomorrow night at 6:30 to decide. I'm really looking forward to casting on during the opening ceremonies of the Olympics!

What do you think I should make for the games- socks or bib? Do you have any plans for the Ravellenic games?