Hand knit socks!

One month ago - I bought this Kroy yarn in Canada.  A few hours later I badly sprained my ankle (which is now starting to feel better - the DR was correct in saying to take it easy for 6 weeks).  I couldn't really take it easy at first though -  I still had to close down my property/business, pack for the next six months, drive hours and hours to Cape Cod, take my math mid-term at college, and catch a plane the next day to Austria... 
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When life is really crazy, and I am super stressed out - having some simple sock knitting to pick up - here and there - helps me relax.  The first sock didn't go so well, I think I was just overall too tired to even sock knit!  Even with the all the mistakes and ripping back, it did help me relax, so served a purpose.  I knit down to the heel on the wrong sized needles and ended up ripping it all out (they were so wide they looked like leg warmers!).  Then I made a mistake at the rib and ripped it back.  Then I saw the heel gusset had a hole (but not until when I got down to the toe), so I ripped that back and fixed it.  The 2nd sock went much faster!  

I K2, P2 for 2 1/2" and then K3, P1 for the leg down to the top of the toe.  
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Here is my sock mushroom - in action.  You might think that you don't need one of these lovlies, but really, it makes weaving in the ends for socks so much easier!  I love mine - it is an oldie with German writing on it (I have no idea what it says).  An appreciated tool, to be sure.

And now, I am happy to say - I have a lovely, new pair of socks for the winter.  Hand knit.  The very best kind.  The stripes don't line up because I measured and knew I would not have enough yarn to start the 2nd sock at the same pattern repeat since I would have to "skip" so much yarn.  Then the yarn had a break in it anyway and didn't the new piece didn't start at the same place - and THEN the stripes matched on the foot part itself.  Funny how that works out sometimes.  I never worry about matching stripes though - and this is the first time I thought I might and then I couldn't anyway.
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I would really, really like a nice basket to put my current sock knitting project into to - easy to move about the house from room to room and contain a few tools (like tape measure, scissors and mushroom).  My sister has a basket similar to the one below (hand made in Africa) and I want one too!  It is so beautiful.  Well, I will put it on my wish list!


If you always wanted to learn how to knit socks - just give it a try.  The very worst that can happen is that you rip the yarn back and guess what - you still have perfectly good, usable yarn to start over with again.  When I learned, I had a book and also watched videos on You Tube for things like turning the heel and the kitchner stitch for closing the toes.
  
You can see what everyone else is knitting over on Judy's blog here:
http://www.patchworktimes.com/2013/11/08/on-the-needles-november-8-2013/