WIP Wednesday: All of the Socks (And some Pumpkin Ale!)

You know what's worse than a second sock? TWO second socks. I dyed myself some holiday yarn this year (Halloween, Hanukkah, Christmas, & Valentines Day), vowing to knit myself some seasonally appropriate socks to wear on each of those days. Well, Halloween and Hanukkah went on without a hitch, but Christmastime got a little bit too crazy to finish my Christmas socks in time. I did manage to finish one the first week of 2014, but the idea of having to knit another Christmas sock just wore me down. So I started another sock in another one of my skeins, which seemed innocent enough. And then I realized...I now have two second socks staring me in the face.

Christmas sock//not-so Christmas sock

I followed the same general formula for both socks and knit them both toe-up with a gusset heel. I'm ALMOST done with my second blue sock and then it will be time for some Valentine's Day socks, so that darn second Christmas sock probably won't see the light of day until March. Or May. I'd love to experiment with some tighter heels (I really love the slipped stitch heel), so if anyone has any heels that they absolutely love, please let me know!

Pumpkin Ale (is my Favorite) in Manos Rittenhouse (RIP) in Cinnamon

And my other active WIP is my current obsession. I finally cast on for Ysolda's Pumpkin Ale and I'm sucked in. It's quickly become one of those projects where I spend more time stretching it out and admiring it than I do knitting it. I'd love to finish it before I head home again (February 4th), but it's pretty slow going because of all the cables (swoon swoon swoon). The nice thing about this pattern is that the back is the only "involved" part, so once I finish this section I'll be on a stockinette island. Which is prefect because my size 5 needles (which of course I didn't pack) should be here by then. 

I'm planning on dedicating a few days next week towards finishing up my long-neglected O-Wool design, which I need to reknit because of TWO pesky stitches that are in the wrong place. I also need to work on my February design, which is meant to represent the Philadelphia aspect of my travels. I have a few projects that I've started, but they're out of Philadelphia yarns and don't really represent Philly as a whole. Maybe I'll have to knit up all three; maybe I'll have to knit up none. 

(I still miss Philly)