Best foot forward

We're going to try something a little different today. We're not going to talk about cancer. I know, it's crazy. But since this is supposed to be a knitting blog, I thought I'd try talking about knitting!

What kind of insanity will I come up with next?

I have been knitting up a storm lately--baseball on TV gives me a solid few hours of knitting time most nights, especially since the team's performance is so atrocious, I don't actually want to look at the TV. This month, I managed to finish up 2 pairs of socks.

The first, I actually started LAST July, on my trip to the beach. So they've been a year in the making.

Pattern: Cachoeira, by Kristi Geraci, Knitty, Spring 2009
Yarn: Madelinetosh Tosh Sock in Cedar
Rav link

I love that these socks are extra long--or, at least, longer than I usually make my socks, because I get bored. I couldn't easily memorize the pattern, though, so I suspect that contributed to the inexcusable length of time it took me to finish them.

The Tosh Sock is not the absolute softest sock yarn I've ever used, but it's plenty comfy, and sturdy. And you really just can't beat her colors (well, Sanguine Gryphon's colorways are pretty fantastic too--tough call).

Pair #2 involves something totally new to me: colorwork in socks.

(Well, that's not entirely true. A long, long, long time ago, I started a pair of Windowpane Socks. I think I made it through 2/3 of the leg and then screwed something up and couldn't  . . . un-screw it up? So the sock is hiding in a bag somewhere, hoping I never find it and ruin it further.)

Pattern: Sockstravaganza, by Kirsten Kapur, in Brave New Knits
Yarn: Sanguine Gryphon Bugga! in Autumn Tiger Beetle, and Sundara sock yarn in Cactus Flower
Rav link

I posted earlier that I recently decided it would be a brilliant idea to knit my way through Brave New Knits, and since I'm still thinking it's a pretty good idea, this is one of the patterns I decided to start with. I always do Kirsten's Socktober Mystery Sock-a-longs (I don't do them in a timely fashion, but I do them), and love the final results, so I'm not surprised that these socks are one of my favorite patterns in the book.

The colorwork section went by surprisingly quickly on these, and from then on, smooth sailing for the cables. And I especially love the stripey toe. The Sundara sock yarn has less yardage than, for example, Bugga! or Tosh Sock, so I thought it would be a good choice for the main color in this pair, and sock leftovers are perfect for the contrast color.

The only problem with these is that it's hard to take a right-side-up picture of your own feet, so you guys are seeing the colorwork hearts upside down. Trust me, they're equally cute right side up.

Now, all I need is some cool weather so I can actually wear my new socks . . . although, to be honest, I also love going into my handknits drawer and seeing all my socks folded up sweetly and waiting to be worn.

And can you believe I actually have one more FO to show you? Told you it's been a busy month. Next time!