Huge Sigh of Relief

Friends, I have good news: The man socks are officially done. I did not knit fast enough to deliver my dad's socks to him on Friday night, but I did finish them up over the weekend and they will be handed over very soon.

Pattern: Improvised simple waffle rib (two rounds of 2x2 ribbing, two rounds of knit) with a heel flap and gusset and wedge toe, worked over 68 stitches
Yarn: Knit Picks Stroll (75% superwash merino/25% nylon) in Fedora, two skeins
Needles: US 1 (2.25 mm) Addi Sock Rockets, magic loop
Started/Completed: February 16/March 6

There's not much to say about these socks. They weren't nearly as boring as the black ribbed socks, but it was close. I had to turn on all the lights in my bedroom to Kitchener the toe because of the dark yarn and my aging eyes, too. I am pleased with how they came out, though, and when my dad tried on the completed sock on Friday night, it was a perfect fit, so that makes me happy. I will be happier, though, if I don't have knit dark man socks again for quite a while!

Because I finished this pair up on Sunday night, I had to pick something quickly to pack in my work bag for my lunchtime knitting. I decided on a skein of handspun that went with me to Florida in December but wasn't touched -- it has been waiting patiently, after all. The yarn was superwash merino from Into the Whirled that I spun last year as part of the Mega SAL; the colorway is called Death (quite cheerful, don't you think?). I cast on yesterday and already have the cuff and about an inch of leg done.

I'm knitting these on my more usual US 0/2.0 mm needles for a denser fabric, and the ribbing is definitely quite dense. I have a feeling that after all the ribbing I've worked on the last two pairs of socks, these stockinette ones are going to fly off the needles.

My First Point of Libra has been getting regular attention, and I'm quickly approaching the end. I finished the first border last night, so tonight I will bind that side off and begin on the final border.

For a while there I really thought I was going to have a ton of the handspun left, but the ball of yarn has gotten noticeably smaller in the last couple of days. I have small amount of the gradient set colors leftover as well, perhaps enough for another square for Rainbow's long-neglected log cabin blanket. Hmm, perhaps when the shawl is done I should dig that WIP out of hibernation. So many ideas, so little time!