The buttercream socks

So I finally figured out that if I tried to knit for a long time, like over an hour, to really burn through those rows because I’m impatient for this new pair of socks - that my hands and arms would hurt all that night, and I wouldn’t be able to muster any interest in knitting for several days, which kind of defeats the purpose of burning through those rows, doesn’t it. So now I try to do ten rows. That’s all. My hands don’t hurt, but it’s a visible amount of progress, and it’s just a sock, so a few nights like that and it’ll be done. It’s not like I’m yarn-bombing the Statue of Liberty.

So I’ve got 40 rows post-post-heel-turn decreases done on my second Buttercream sock, and it took 80 rows to reach the toe on the mate to this one, so I’m halfway down the foot on the second one. After that it’s just the decreases for the toe, so that’s what - about 5 more nights to the end.

Here’s what it looks like right now:

This is the Cotton/Bamboo/Silk blend. I bought several balls of this yarn, thinking they'll be a little cooler to wear in the warm months. I like it OK, but it does have more of a tendency to split while you're knitting it. Nothing insurmountable. However, with wool, it only takes 60 rows for the foot, because the CoBaSi is a bit less elastic, too.



Then I’ll focus on the next pair of socks (I have a LOT of sock yarn), which I’m still just going with my own vanilla sock math on but I’m incorporating a twelve-row-repeat lace pattern. It’s Koigu 100% merino wool, but I can’t figure out the colorway. It says “Painter’s Palette Premium” at one spot on the label, then “P138 201” is hand-written. So, whatever. I love the colors. I’ve never done lace before so I was pleased to find out that this isn’t so hard. My progress so far:



I've only got the cuff and half of the first 12 rows done, just to see if I could do the lace. I think the lace pattern will be much more visible when I'm actually wearing the finished sock. It's kind of bunched up on itself now.

I’ve joined the Ravelry Self-Imposed Sock Group, and keep intending to get my own year’s worth of kits lined up. I’ve always wanted to do that anyway: put a ball of yarn and the sock pattern I’ll use it with, in a ziplock bag (in my fantasies it’s in a dozen adorable sewn project bags but that ain’t happened yet, either) - one for each month of a year. Technically, I can get a pair knit in a month, so I want to push myself to do it. (It would exceed my prudent aim of ten rows per night by a little bit, but I figure, some nights will be a little over, some a little under. I’ll adjust.) There are ladies on this forum who have posted pictures of JUST THEIR SOCK COLLECTIONS and they’ve got like thirty or forty pairs of hand-knit socks! I can only dream of getting there! My ultimate aim is to never wear store-bought socks again. I think if I knit all the sock yarn I’ve got, I’ll be fast enough with practice that I’ll be able to even knit like, white sports socks. But I need to do all these gorgeous yarns first.