Needle Point?

My commute to work consists of me taking a 45 min train ride into Chicago. Hubby drops me off at the station at 8 am, where I board at 8:05. I sit in the first car of a 7 car Metra train and usually in the same seat as the day before. Out of habit or just plain familiarity, I've fallen into this certain routine where I put on my headphones and listen to a book on tape ~Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, right now~ then I pull out my current project and fall into a knitting zone.

I love my commute too and from the city. It prepares me for a day full of deadlines and unwinds me in the evening, before coming home to my family. Most of the time the train is completely packed, any available seats are occupied. These people have no concern for others...they talk on cell phones or to each other. I don't know about you, but the last thing I want to do early in the morning is hold a conversation about anything besides receive caffeine into my body. Thus the reason for the headphones. Knitting enhances my hearing and attention to details...and I find it hard not to listen to conversations around me...(Get to the point!)...yeah, I know.

Okay, so this morning is like any other...a lady sits next to me and all I see is her mouth moving and her hand motioning to my socks on two circ's. I pull my ear phones off and say "Excuse me?"

"Oh, that's interesting" this stranger says..."is that needle point?"

WTF! ~ I say to myself ~ "Nooooo, it's knitting." Hoping I didn't sound to evil. I then tried to explain how and why, but I see nothing but a deer in the headlights. She doesn't have a clue and there's no point in me trying to make this woman understand. I would love to explain that they'll will be totally exact when I'm done. That they'll be worn by my loving mother and hopfully will be enjoyed as much as I have enjoyed making them. That the loose hairs that have been knitted along with the yarn will bond me and my mother even closer then we are now. This stranger is a lost soul, poor thing. I wish I could show her the light, but alas I need to knit and get back to my audio book. Can you believe she actually thought it was needle point?

A status report you say...okay, here is my needle point: