Both Pairs Are Done!

Since October 27, I have knit two pairs of men's socks. I just finished the second pair last night. Yay!

I had not taken the time to weigh the first sock to see how close to half the yarn I had used. I was getting nervous during the toe decreases for the second of the lighter coloured socks as I didn't think I'd have enough yarn to finish and graft the toe. I had already decided I was going to chain-ply the matching reinforcing yarn to get a thick enough yarn to finish the project. Fortunately, I was able to finish the 2nd sock with a couple of yards of yarn to spare. Once I got them done, I went back and ripped out the toe of the longer of the two darker socks and reknit it to match the length of the other one.

One would think that would be enough sock knitting for a while but OH NO, I went back to the second Embossed Leaves sock and picked up where I had left off - having turned the heel and getting ready to pick up the gusset stitches along the heel flap. I knit away on it for a while and when I went to begin the twisted-stitch reinforcement on the sole at the ball of the foot, I compared it to the first sock, counting the number of lace pattern repeats up to the reinforcing. I kept getting an extra repeat in my count on the second sock. It took me about 20 minutes before I realized I had KNIT AN EXTRA LACE PATTERN REPEAT on the leg of the second sock. Rip! Back I frogged and picked up the stitches all around only to discover I hadn't ripped back far enough and had to tink back about 5 more rounds before I could resume forward progress ...  restarting the heel flap. And on and on it goes. I hope to get it finished tonight and get it blocked and ready to send off to its recipient.

I got some good news this week. When I was at the Woodstock Fleece Festival a couple of weeks ago, I dropped into the Feather Your Nest booth and said hi to Terri O'Brien, the proprietor. When I made my purchase, she told me that if I joined her shop's Ravelry group, my name would be put in a draw for a $25 gift certificate to her shop. I WON! I hope it arrives Mon. or Tues. because I plan to use it on Wednesday when I'm in her area.