Three Cheers!

Hip! Hip! Hooray!

I can not express how happy I am to have finished these three pairs of socks.

"Brigit" started out well enough. I had admired several pairs knit for Ravelry's May Sockdown and decided to make some myself. Unfortunately, it wasn't long before I found the solid colour boring and the two-stitch cables tedious but I decided to persevere because I knew how nice the finished product would be. And I was determined to meet the challenge of knitting a second pair of socks for Sockdown.

From start to finish I have never really been happy with my Noro "Kureyon" socks. As you might remember, I initially started a pair of plain, top-down socks for myself but frogged them because of colour and gauge issues. I thought my sister-in-law might like the muted, earthy tones of the yarn so decided to make a pair for her instead. Because she has long, wide feet I was worried about having enough yarn to make a matched set so I decided that a toe-up sock was my safest bet. That way I wouldn't have to guess about how long to make the leg before shaping the heel. Althought technically-speaking the socks turned out fine and I had plenty of yarn to make the legs a decent length I really didn't enjoy knitting them very much. Although I feel proud to have finally knit a complete pair of toe-up socks after so many failed attempts I really don't see myself attempting another any time soon.

In all fairness, I mostly enjoyed knitting "Cranberry Biscotti". I love the colours and the slip stitch pattern and the yarn. However, about halfway through I started daydreaming about other sock projects and found myself dissatisfied with this one. In an effort to avoid the dreaded Second Sock Syndrome I made myself finish the three pairs I had on the go before beginning a new pair (ahem, pairs). Sadly, this took some of the joy out of knitting the second "Biscotti" because it started to feel like a chore. Now that the pair is done, though, I am pleased with how they turned out.

After putting myself through this hell I couldn't wait to get up this morning and cast on some new socks. While I was still half asleep I began a pair of plain socks in Regia Cotton, intended as a gift for my eldest sister. When I was more awake I cast on for "Spring Forward" in Oceanwind Knits Hand-Dyed Merino (colourway Tuscany) and managed to complete two pattern repeats.

So far, I love them.

Looking back, the past couple of weeks--especially the last couple of days--have been all about delayed gratification, about discipline, about payoff. All very character-building, I'm sure, but I'm glad to get back to just plain fun.