Penelope’s Socks

Penelope’s husband, Odysseus, left for the war with Troy many years ago. Patiently Penelope waits. The men of the town, however, are eager to take possession of Odysseus’ riches and his wife. They move into Penelope’s house and press her to take one of them for her husband. Odysseus must surely be dead after so many years away. Penelope declines as politely as possible until the drunken brawls and adolescent displays of masculinity rob her of sleep and peace. Being a clever woman, Penelope announces that she will make her choice, but only after she has woven her husband a proper burial shroud.

All day long, Penelope sits weaving in her room. Her bedroom was built around the bed Odysseus constructed for her from a living tree. The shuttle slips through the warp threads in a soothing rhythm. The shuttle whispers her hope for the safe return for Odysseus with the extra insurance of the hair of a nymph woven into the design. All day long she weaves. At night the men come braying at her to choose. Penelope closes herself in her rooms and rips back the day’s weaving.

I am beginning to wonder if Penelope isn’t visiting my knitting bag in the night. Perhaps that is the reason the dog refuses to sleep and chases nothing in the night. Perhaps that is the reason that I haven’t finished a sock that is just plain knitting out of self striping yarn. I knit and knit, but I seem to get no further than when I started. I would swear each time I pull it out of my bag to begin working on it, the sock has shrunk at least two inches in length from the knitting the day before. I knit round after round believing that the next round I will have reached the toe, only to be disappointed.

At the same time, I know that even if Penelope does visit me during the night, eventually the sock will have a toe and come off the needles. These types of projects teach perseverance and trust in the process of knitting. I will pull this sock out again today and knit some more on it so that I can get it finished – or at least give Penelope some more work tonight.