First socks of 2011

nobody can dig out the chocolate first with these neapolitans!

Yea!  I am on my way to keeping one of my goals with my first socks of the new year, only 5 more pairs to go.  I used the Carolina pattern by Monkey Toes with KnitPicks Felici yarn in the Neapolitan colorway.  I love them!  Okay, it figures that I make some nice warm squishy socks out of sport weight yarn and we have a taste of summer in the middle of winter (it is currently 76 degrees F in my front hallway, gotta love Southern California!) so of course I can't wear them.

that nifty eye of partridge heel flap, love it

Unfortunately I did get almost done with one sock only to realize my gauge was too tight and they were really hard to get on my foot.  Sigh, so I put in an order for some larger sock needles (can I tell you I was so disappointed with that!) and pulled it all apart to start anew.  Since I has to start over anyway I decided to use my newly learned TAAT technique that I had just started to figure out on the sleeves for Lil' Misses new sweater.  Knitting actually went rather quickly doing this, it only took me a little over a week to get them done.  The only thing I am kind of iffy on is the toe, I do like the eye of partridge pattern I knit but I feel that I should have switched to that earlier even if it meant I just knit a few rounds without decreasing yet.  Maybe it's just me but it looks a bit weird with the sock pattern going onto my toes, my toes are a bit squarish so it doesn't take too much to decrease for me and it just seems a bit sudden to my eye.

zoom, it's a toe!

Next up will be Toe Up Socks With a Difference by Wendy Johnson using the design element from Pillars by Lisa Stichweh with some KnitPicks stroll tonal yarn in the blue yonder colorway.  I plan on starting these next socks along with the Knit Picks Lovers group on ravelry as part of a February KAL.  I am really excited about these socks and am looking forward to learning toe up, here's hoping I can figure it out!