testing my patience

I ran a full marathon once.  A long time ago, BK (Before Kids).  The final 3 km were the longest and most difficult of all 43 km.  The final stretch was along the road toward the parliament building in Toronto and Queen's Park.  The road has a slight uphill grade, going south to north, that feels like a mountain after 40 km of running.  People alongside were finished, wrapped in foil thermal blankets, eating bananas and bagels, shouting "you're almost there".  Well, that's all relative.  Almost there when you feel like you can't take another step is much different from almost there when you're done.  To make matters worse, the finish line was behind the building, out of sight.  I felt like I was running toward something that didn't really exist.  I will add here that I have not run a full marathon since.

My Amanda sweater feels like that last 3km right now.  Endless.  I'm not enjoying this phase of the Amanda sweater.  It's joined and I'm decreasing at each shoulder seam for the raglan yoke, which means the stitch total decreases by 8 each round.  I can see from the pattern that it's almost done (18 more rows of yoke, plus finishing bands), but it feels like that end is much farther away.

 I find myself dreaming of chunky accessories, other projects with mindless stocking stitch, and other distractions that are not endless cable repeats in gray wool.  I will resist starting anything new until this is done.  Like running the marathon, I'm quite certain if I stop I won't restart!