Like All Good Things

As I type this, the sun in setting on our last day of our vacation. Tomorrow we head back to the frozen north (though the Florida weather has been unseasonably cool the last few days, which perhaps was Mother Nature's way of acclimating us), and Monday we'll all be back to the normal routine.

The past two weeks have gone by quickly, but they have been thoroughly enjoyable. I've gotten a lot of sleep and a fair amount of exercise, including getting back into running (though I'll likely take a hiatus when we get home until the weather gets warmer). I've finished two books. I've discovered that I can drink a glass of wine without ill effect. And I've done a lot of knitting.

You saw the two projects I finished in my last post, so this one is all about the WIPs. The first is a new pair of socks for Rainbow, which you saw last week. I started the first one when we headed to the movies on Christmas, and it sat for a while until after the last of my Gift-a-long projects was finished. The Mister and I went out for a date night earlier this week and went to see another movie, so naturally I picked the project back up again.

Rainbow requested another pair of Vanilla Is the New Black socks, so that's what she's getting. I am purposefully making them a bit on the larger side so that they will last longer (this girl's feet seem to grow every time I look), but the nice thing about this pattern is that aside from the heel, they are nothing but stockinette with a bit of ribbing at the cuff. They'll be coming on the plane with me tomorrow, so it's highly likely that the first sock will be done very soon.

The other project on the needles is a new design, a pair of ankle socks with a bit of colorwork for fun. I cast on the first sock on Tuesday and finished it yesterday -- I just love how fast sportweight sock knit up!

The yarn is Fibernymph Dye Works Traveler; the main color was actually the other option for the main color for the Xenolith kits with the rainbow mini skeins, and the blue is the leftover from the color I ended up using. It's a bit hard to see in the photo above (because it's not very easy to take a photo of your own foot), but there's a bit of short row shaping on the back of the ankle to create a little pull-on tab like you see on athletic socks. I'm very happy with how this turned out and had hoped to knit up the second sock today, but just as I got out of the shower after my run today, I got a migraine. It wasn't a bad one, fortunately, but it did mean that I ended up sleeping away part of the afternoon. I'll work on the second sock this evening and finish it up when we get home, and fortunately I already have a draft of the pattern written up.

While it would be nice to be on vacation indefinitely, especially during the winter, I will say that I am looking forward to being reunited with my stash and my wheels. I predict I will spend most of the coming weekend wrapped in a big sweater, drinking lots of tea, and spinning my heart out.