Fighting with a shawl

Faroese-Style Shawl
I have fought with this shawl and even had to make a drive to the "LYS" 35 miles away to pick up another pair of circular needles because one of the four legged creatures in our house decided to chew on the bamboo ones. And of course they didn't have the size I needed so I ended up purchasing some plastic ones - which added to the fighting. I have ripped this thing aobut at least 6 times and finally have the pattern down. The circular needles curl enough that I can't get a true picture of it. This is from Cast on Magazine Spring 2004 and I am using Lion Brand Homespun - a purple heathery color (I could get up and go look, but it is past my bed time and I am waiting for the laundry to dry).
In the backdrop is a baby blanket - finally got more of the skeins I needed from Kaleidoscope Yarns - on sale to top it off - It's Plymouth Encore and wonderful to knit with.
A nice little treasure landed in my lap today - my mom brought me a box of old needles- both dp and straight with a couple of circulars that belonged to my grandmother, so the tradition continues.
Now, I would like to find a nice easy sock pattern to try that won't try my patience to badly - any good web sites recommendations are greatly appreciated.