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They are done!!! It seems like it has taken forever because I didn’t knit for almost 2 weeks but they are finally done. And they are wonderful. The yarn is Blue Moon Fiber Arts Seduction yarn in G Rocks. It is a merino/tencel yarn that is just so soft and shiny. While my Manly Candy socks still pooled on the feet at least they more or less pooled the same way on both socks.

Check out the heel flap, it has a garter edge which I wasn’t so sure about but now I really like it. The pattern is the Cross-over lace from More Sensational Knitted Socks. If you liked the first book you will like the second.

Now I have a confession. While I like this yarn and am really glad I bought it I seriously doubt I will ever buy it from BMFA again. With so many other indy dyers out there now offering the exact same merino/tencel blend for up to $10 less I have a hard time justifying the $34 price. Especially when I find it absolutely impossible to knit a non-pooling sock. I love the colors, I love the quality of product that BMFA puts out but I hate that pooling is such an issue and yet nothing is done about it. Unless they come out with a colorway I just can’t live without I can’t see myself buying BMFA again anytime soon.

Anyway, finishing up the Manly Candy socks meant I could start working on the socks for my cousin. I may have already mentioned about how I was ‘informed’ by my mother that I had to knit at least 2 pairs of socks for my cousin by mid to late June. I immediately thought of Cascade Fixation for a couple reasons; 1 because she is sensitive to wool (she had no issue with the socks my mom knit for her last winter but can’t handle much of it) and 2 because it’s heavier than normal fingering and so should knit up fast.

Boy was I right on that #2. I cast on last night and started my basic toe-up k3,p1 ribbed socks, this time with a short row heel (mostly because I forgot about the gusset increases until it was too late). By the time I went to bed last night I had just finished the toe and after an afternoon of knitting at VY&T I had knit the foot, the short row heel and worked an inch of the cuff. And this was after taking about an hour lunch break with Ginger for an amazing mushroom burger at Time Out Burgers. Yum.

At this rate the first sock may should get finished tonight and the second one can be started tomorrow. Talk about fast. Just what I wanted.

And because I’ve come to the conclusion I’m a somewhat selfish knitter I think I might nix driving to work this coming week like I normally do (if you took my bus you would understand why) and ride the bus instead. Why? Well because if I have these 2-3 pairs of socks to knit by June I don’t want them to cut into MY knitting time. The bus ride will give me a little time to knit without taking time out of my knitting/spinning time at home. Dealing with the awful bus (the 358 to those who live in Seattle) is worth it in this case. For those of you not familiar with this bus imagine folks smoking pot in the back of the bus at 7.30am, being stuck listening to an ex-con talk about his time in prison, sitting 3 feet from a crazy guy who spritzed his head with water and sprinkled salt on his shoes and you get the picture. Now you know why I drive.