Goldilocks and the three socks

I have returned! I'm back here in NYC, the plane didn't explode and all is well with the world. Well, maybe not quite everything since I did come home to discover a fine layer of sand covering my bedspread prompting the realisation that someone had slept in my room while I was away, evoking memories of a time I discovered that someone else had slept in my bed (with my boyfriend) while I was away in England. But anyway, that's enough of that.

Look what I did while sitting on my bum doing nothing on vacation! Yes I know I've already shown the two blue pairs, but this is my trio! All finished off, cast on or conceived in Manchester. The purple heather socks are the Hedera pattern from the Knitty archives. So cute! We shan't talk about the yarn because it is cheap and nasty and quite possibly 80% acrylic, but what can a girl do when she wants to support her one and only LYS and it only sells granny yarn?? The socks on the other hand are quite lovely. See?

The only alterations I did were to add five rows of plain stockinette before decreasing at the toe, and doing more decreases than called for because I'm chicken shit and scared of the kitchener stitch. I may well be tempted to knit these again with a little more quality because they just flew off the needles in all of about two days! Yes, I was just slightly bored at home and also was the person who had to sit and wait for the roofer/linoleum fitter/washing machine delivery guy after a string of disasters in my parents' house.

And finally, just to show you that I'm completely daft and shouldn't be allowed, this is my rather disastrous attempt at designing my own lace socks.

If only I'd just learnt from the first time that 64 stitches is just not enough to pass over my ginormously huge heel. I'd got all big for my boots, picked out a simple lace pattern from my newly acquired thrift store knitting books and went to town. Unfortunately this fishtail lace will soon be headed for the frog pond. Ha, fish.... ponds.... I'm so gosh darn funny after no sleep and a transatlantic flight... Next time I'll cast on with 68 stitches a resign myself to my cankles.