Tortoise and Hare knitting

I have been thinking recently about how long it takes me to knit projects. I have it in my head, you see, that I'm a slow knitter. Recent events have demonstrated that I can in fact knit an entire decently-sized shawl in a week, which is not slow. And yet, I have some projects that are just taking forever, even though they are not that big or complicated. Let's have a look at my long-term projects, shall we?
First up is my coatigan. It's chunky yarn on 9mm needles. This goes at a rate of knots when I'm working on it. Therein of course lies the catch - when I'm working on it. I need to do a load of number-crunching to make the sleeves work, and it's tedious. The whole thing is too big to carry around, and when I'm at home I mostly want to work on simple things I can do while carrying on a conversation, listening to the radio or watching tv. So my poor coatigan gets left in its bag hibernating. I'm also not entirely sure that once it's finished I'll have the nerve to wear it. I love the colours and I love the way it fits (currently - I don't know how the sleeves will fit yet!), but it is very loud. At least compared to the rest of my wardrobe. I started it in April last year and have knit many, many projects to completion since then.
Next oldest project is actually my ripple bedspread. I started it in November last year. Its only crime is being big, heavy and hot. I got ill right after starting it and could only just manage the weight of a sock on my abdomen. By the time I'd recovered, it was too hot to sit around under a blanket. It's actually making steady progress because it lives next to my bed and gets worked on when I'm waiting for the spouse to wind down his stuff in the evening. As the weather gets cooler I'll be able to work on this more. Of course, I can't do too much crocheting at a time as it hurts my wrists.
Everything else is from this year. A pair of socks that I started in May. I can't make myself finish the heel flap. Seriously. I finished the entire cuff in 4 days and have been working on the heel flap since the 20th of May. It's so frickin' boring!
A pillow that needs decisions made about its buttonholes.
A Pomatomus sock that is starting to bore me as well. I've figured out how the pattern works, so I can just get on with it. However, now that I've figured out the pattern, it's an entire 72-stitch sock in 1x1 twisted rib.

Basically, I can knit quite quickly. But if the project is either boring, weather-inappropriate or needing more concentration that I want to provide? Well, it's going to end up just hanging around not getting much done on it. The big projects are the worst. The socks, at least, I can force myslf to work on by relying on them as my handbag knitting. The coatigan is a bit scuppered in that respect.