Two steps forward, one step back

First, these are my two steps forward – the most recent pair of plain vanilla socks to fall off the needles. I started these in mid-September when in need of something small and simple to knit during soccer games, and they took me about 2 months of knitting in those rare moments (also at work). I find this colorway very cheerful (Trekking XXL color 506). They look so bright in these photos, but believe me, there are some dark stripes there. I had difficulty knitting in low light.

Now, for my “one step back.” I fell down and bought some more self-patterning yarn when Simply Socks Yarn Company had a sale on Regia. Boy 1 picked out this ball of “North Pole Color.” It’s marked “6-fadig” which I thought meant sportweight… but I think it’s actually a bit heavier. Ravelry describes it as DK, and the ballband suggests a US 3-6 needle!I started knitting these on a 2.5mm needle because that’s how I usually do sportweight socks. They are pretty tight, but Boy 1 kept trying them on and we thought they’d be okay (I cast on 46 for him – his feet aren’t quite as big as mine but they are getting close). Last night I finished the gusset decreases and sped toward the toe. We had another fitting today so I could plan the toe decreases and… well… I think they’re just too snug. I ripped them out right after taking this photo. Easy come, easy go!

I’m going to increase my CO number to 48 when I start again, and I’m also going to bump up my needle size to 2.75 mm. We’ll see where that gets us.

In other very exciting new, I finished S1’s Christmas sweater. That deserves its own post, so I’ll share that with you next time!