Two Gray Socks

I've been working on the second Welsh Country Stocking. Progress is slow. The yarn, Schoeller-Esslinger Hit, which is sport weight, knits up very firm in this stocking. The firmness is good, but it's hard on the hands and wrists. So, despite the fact that I really want to get these finished, I'm being forced to take my time and not do any more than a dozen rounds a day.

The new pair of socks is Ann Budd's On-Your-Toes Socks from IK Summer 2007. I am making these with the gray/black Regia Spirit Color that Maria gave me for Christmas. These are my first toe up socks and I found the Eastern cast-on to be a real nightmare. I kept trying and trying, but each time ended up totally knotted up and twisted every which way. I searched Google and anything else I could think of for tutorials. The same results, knotted up and twisted and ripped out. I was at rope's end. And then, staring at it again for the umpteenth time, the stitches suddenly made perfect sense. Once more I ripped out and started over, and this time it worked beautifully. And I'm in love with toe up socks.

I've found a new use for Ravelry. Now when I am surfing yarns and patterns, I hit the queue button when I see something I like. Then when I want to find it again later, I will only have to scroll through the queue until I see it. No more racking my brains trying to remember a few months later where I saw something! So my queue will probably be larger than I will ever manage in this lifetime, but at least I'll know where to find everything!