The trouble with socks (FO and WIP)

A while ago (early April) I cast on some husband socks for my dear husband's birthday. I cracked on with the Java pattern from Knitty, which I've been itching to knit for a while. Apart from messing up the rib, and having to redo that a couple of times, it was all going swimmingly until i got down the first foot towards the toe  (although by then the birthday deadline had been and gone). At that point it started to look like there was a problem with the yarn. By which I mean, there wasn't going to be enough of it. When we went on holiday at the end of June, I packed a bag of projects and my digital scales. I weighed the sock (making allowance for the needles) and I weighed the remaining yarn. They were about the same. No chance then of making a pair of socks. A slight drawback in a sock project. So, I started again.

I pulled some interesting leftovers out of my sock yarn stash, including a small ball of sock yarn I bought in a charity shop and I cast on for a pair of stripey scrap socks. The trouble was that these would never do for my husband, so they had to be for me. I polished them off in about a week (there is something very, very more-ish about those stripes).

(This is a WIP shot. Haven't yet had chance to take a FO picture)

Pattern: generic top-down, using a grumperina stripe

Yarn: Regia semi solid (dark grey); unknown self-striping sock yarn (paler green/cream); unknown (?Rowan) 4-ply (darker green).

Once those were off the needles (and on my feet) I got round to the subject of socks with my other half. Yes, he would like some (rather belated birthday socks) but they would have to be different to the Christmas pair. No problem. I wanted to do more stripes, but to make something a bit more subtle, so I cast on with two grey yarns this time, one ball of trekking in charcoal grey and another charity shop yarn which is a bit paler and has a strand of blue to give it a bit of extra something. These aren't quite floating my boat in the same way as the green ones, but I'm hoping they won't take too long. I'm a bit behind with a few. other. things.

While we were on holiday, celebrating my birthday, I managed another FO - the scarf I had been knitting from last-minute knitted gifts (chevron scarf). Here it is enjoying the morning sun in the blue bedroom and waiting to be packed in the knitting bag to go home. There it was washed and blocked and wrapped and sent. A belated birthday gift for my cousin, Emma. Happy Birthday Em!

Pattern: Chevron Scarf (Last-minute knitted gifts)

Yarn: 50g Rowan Cashsoft and 50g or so of hand-dyed yarn by Jenny Cook