knit parade: belated anniversary socks

i know i gave myself a march deadline for these because i can get fairly delusional. it's nearly mid-may now, which makes this pair of anniversary socks nearly two months late.

sock pattern: how i make my socks by susan b. anderson
yarn: madelinetosh sock

i loved making these socks. i chose a very simple and straightforward pattern, for two reasons, really. first, so that the yarn could sing. and delicious it was. i loved watching the colourway reveal itself as i knit. and second, because these are only the second pair of socks i've ever worked on. so i knew i was in for a learning curve.

and a learning curve it was. 

you see the heels there? there are two different heel constructions. i misread the pattern instructions for making the heel on the first sock (if you care or know what i'm talking about, i slipped every other heel on both sides) and i didn't even realize it until i was at the same point in making the second sock.

i was honestly ready to rip out the first sock so i can reknit the section properly - but the wife was happy. she said the socks felt relatively the same - though if i was being honest, i would tell you that the first sock is less elastic than the second, at the heel. 

but when you lay each sock on top of each other, they are the same size. and the wife wore them to bed two nights in a row. so i think she likes them well enough. 

here are my feet, modelling the socks for you. (the wife wasn't on hand when i was ready to write this entry, unfortunately).

i can honestly attest to the fact that wearing hand knit socks really does feel like the warmest hug for your feet. i loved making socks so much that i've already cast on for my third pair of socks ever. the lady who wrote the sock pattern i am using, she has a drawer dedicated to hand knit socks. something to aspire to, no? 

i've had this yarn for two years. i've been trying to make a baby elf hat out of it - first for the boy, and then for the girl. i failed every time. i just kept getting confused. so the poor ball of yarn has been knit and ripped several times over now.

i did make the girl a pair of newborn booties with some of the yarn. (oh that baby girl! be still my beating heart!).

but as many knitting bloggers have come to realize before me (because i only have them as a reference), the yarn almost always knows what it wants to be. and this yarn wanted to be the first pair of socks i've ever made for me.

pattern: how i make my socks by susan b. anderson (again)
sock: misti alpaca hand painted sock yarn