The sock saga continues . . .

Well, the scarf is basically done, just needs to be blocked, so that leaves me with ample time to work on the socks. I haven't fully formed an opinion about socks yet. So far, they seem like a real pain in the arse, but doable. Somehow it failed to occur to me, when I began this project, that since socks come in pairs, once I finish this one, I have to do the exact same thing all over again. I'm a knitter who likes to get things done and move on the next exciting project; I do not love repetition. Of course, I need to keep in mind that practice makes perfect; or slightly less messy, at least.
Turning the heel (oops, I accidentally typed "hell" first--Freudian slip?) and then picking up stitches for the gusset weren't as miserable as I thought; both were tricky, but I made it through with surprisingly few mistakes. Silver's Sock Class really is fantastically detailed, I've yet to run into any step that doesn't have perfectly clear instructions, with photos to match. (She must be so fantastic because her name is also Kristin, albeit spelled differently than me.)
At left is, believe it or not, a picture of the heel, unfortunately quite blurry. I just finished all the decreases for the gusset, so I get to go back to just knitting the in the round for a few inches--of course, a week ago knitting in the round seemed quite daunting, and now I think it's a breeze compared to the crazy knitting maneuvers I could be tackling.
Perhaps if these socks turn out well, they can become a birthday or Christmas gift for my grandfather, who was telling me the other day how my grandmother used to knit him socks all the time. Whether or not that's actually true, I don't know, as Pop Pop's closing in on 90 and not necessarily all there; his long-term memory still seems pretty sharp though. For example, he can distinctly remember when the Orioles were good. I am not so lucky.
I'm still waiting anxiously for my Knit Picks order. It has been marked shipped, but has to get here all the way from Washington state, so I don't expect it to arrive for at least a week. Boo.
And I can't forget to introduce you to one of my knitting helpers. Here's Dory (Luchadora), carefully observing and making sure I don't make any mistakes. She's quite a slave driver. Still, I prefer her assistance to that of my cat Nelly, who thinks a knitted object just isn't complete if she hasn't kneaded it carefully with her claws and taken a nap on it to ensure it has an adequate coating of orange fur.