the choices color all i've done

Socks are the perfect project...especially these ones. They don't take a lot of attention or space, and are the most functional garment I make. As fall and winter approach (spring, too, for that matter), these socks are perfect for keeping your feet warm on chilly days, or slipping on to sleep in at night. I am firmly of the opinion that you can't have too many socks!

I went through a long summer knitting lull, and these socks signal (I hope) the end to that. I just cleaned out my knitting collection and re-organized everything, so I am resolving not to buy any more yarn. NO MORE YARN! Writing it in a public place makes it real. There are millions of knitting bloggers writing the exact same thing on their blogs (just like they promise to post more often), I know, but I'm really trying to make it true. It's up to you to help!

These socks are sort of hilarious. You might (not) remember them, so here's a reminder. At the time, I decided they were absolutely hideous and should not be knitted into anything ever. Mostly this was because the sock on the right was the first one, and happened in the most unflattering sequence of the stripe repeat. One day, desperate for a project, I grabbed this out of my sock yarn bag because it was at the top. I was horrified at what I had grabbed ("oh not THAT one!"), but was running late and didn't have a choice. So I started them (again), hated them (again), but kept on knitting. To my delight, I liked it better once I got through a complete stripe sequence!

So I started the second sock cheerfully. Until I got a giant snarl of yarn, that is- and discovered that there were four ends. Once I untangled everything, I had two balls of yarn...which you can see on the foot of the right-hand sock, where the red stripe suddenly isn't anymore. Most hilariously, when I started the second ball, the stripe pattern reversed, so the toes are the same colors on each sock but they're reversed on the right sock. I'm normally a pretty OCD person, so this should have been horrifying and unacceptable, but whatever. These socks are hysterical, so why wouldn't they have crazy things happening with the stripe pattern? (Apologies to those of you who are twitching right now. You are better people than me.) I don't know the name of this yarn because I tossed the label (foolishly). It's called Holiday Color, and that's all I know.

Next up: bright green socks, but at least they're not fluorescent! This yarn was the last skein of self-dyed yarn that I had stashed away from my days teaching workshops on the subject. The color is really hard to photograph and comes across brighter than they are in real life...but these will be a nice, cheerful reminder of leafy green summer days when there's snow and ice covering everything in sight. The yarn used is Plymouth Yarns Jeanne, which is a fingering-weight nylon/wool blend. Lovely!

And finally: socks for my father! He doesn't do bright colors, so this was a great choice for him. I used Crystal Palace Mini Mochi, which looks and feels lovely (but I bet you can see where I changed skeins in the left sock). I would not buy this yarn again, though...it splits like crazy and slowed me down a lot when I was working on these.

Happy fall, Kniterary Club! Time to start wearing wool socks.