Since I started knitting nearly 3 years ago, I have knitted 28 pairs of socks. Some of them were given away as gifts but most are kept in the wardrobe for when the weather gets cooler. I have maybe three pairs that I use for the office when I want to add a bit of funk to my mood. Black trouser socks 5 days a week does not help lift your mood at all.

I currently have 6 sock projects on the go, some getting more attention than others. Here are two recently half-done socks.

Socks That Rawk continue to be one of my favourite groups in Ravelry. The quarterly Knit Along provides just the right amount of motivation to try new patterns and marry them with yarn from my current stash. So far most of the STR socks I have completed are from the KALs in this group. This half-a-sock is from the Q3 KAL and the pattern is called Charybdis.

The skein is from the great MADrona Rare Gem Stash of 2010.  It’s a nice blend of pinks, greens and browns.  There is a slight hint of striping but it’s hardly noticeable.  It would have made a great shawl too but it’s perfect for this sock right now.

This is a toe-up pattern with short row heels. Argh, don’t even get me started on the heels! Three short row attempts and a lot of frustration can drive a woman angry-crazy. Thanks to Wendy Johnson’s gusset heel technique, I found the perfect solution! I used a 2×2 rib on the cuff and used smaller needles. Sock #2 will be cast on tomorrow.

This little beauty is a test knit from everyone’s favourite Irishgirlie. It’s my second test-knit for Carrie and I love how she writes very simple directions.  Carrie provided the yarn for this test knit, Kollage Yarn’s new Sock-a-licious which is a merino/nylon/silk blend. it’s soft to the touch, very light and the colour is quite subdued. Not sure how I feel about the way the colour works up the sock though.

One thing I have never tried on any of Carrie’s other designs is working the toe pattern right up to the end, just before you graft the ends. This time I followed her instructions to the letter and came out with this pretty pretty toe.

A river runs through it … see what I mean about the colour? Not mad about it but it’s alright. Remind me again never to take a photo of the sock on your feet while using a 70mm macro lens!

The dainty thing about this pattern is the subtle cable and lace that runs down the leg. It’s a simple 8 row repeat which gets very intuitive after a couple of repeats so before you know it you have actually knitted the required 8 repeats on the leg. I have never learned how to do cables with a cable needle so I may have slowed down a bit there. Still, I love how it worked up really quickly. Will have to cast on for sock #2 tomorrow.