First Christmas Gift, Check.

Sock Pair No. 5 of 2014.

Things I learned while knitting this pair of socks:
1. Pay attention to what you're doing. (This is not the first time I've learned this particular lesson.)
2. Gauge is a filthy beast. (Nor this one.)

I tend to knit fairly simple socks, because I often use them as my "I've been designing all day, I just need something mindless to work on now while I watch Property Brothers because I am incapable of sitting still." I nearly always choose a pattern that has a 4-stitch repeat (or no repeat, just plain vanilla socks), because a lot of patterns are written for 64 stitches (8 stitches per inch), and I know that I need to go down to 60 to fit my thin ankles. The pattern I picked this time is Charade, and it does indeed have a 4-stitch repeat, and is written for 64 stitches. I used Dream in Color Smooshy in the colorway Wisteria, which is pretty, if slightly odd.

I started these socks after a long, long day on our epic house-hunting trip in Louisiana. My brain: not working that well. Without giving it any thought at all, I automatically went down to 60 stitches on my beloved size 2 sock needles. I knitted literally the entire leg and turned the heel before I stopped and really looked at the sock and realized that there was not a chance in hell that they would fit me without cutting off my circulation. Turns out the stitch pattern (which involves passing slipped stitches over) really draws in. If I had been thinking at all I would have realized that, or alternatively, the pattern could list gauge instead of just saying "Meh." Really. Under gauge it says "Meh."

Instead of ripping I made the magnanimous decision to keep going, and end up with my first Christmas gift. It was a tough decision. I wanted these socks for myself, and I will admit that I am a "selfish knitter." (PS: I absolutely hate that phrase. I am the one doing the knitting, so I get to pick what I knit and who gets it, and if that person is always me, well. It's my time, my yarn, and my choice. Rant over.)

So I've decided that these go to my mother-in-law, who I'm nearly sure does not read my blog, but if she does... please act surprised come Christmas time. She's quite petite and lives in the frozen tundra of North Dakota, where winter lasts 10.5 months a year, so these socks will be perfect for her.

I think that my next socks (which will be pair 6 of my goal of 6 for 2014... sweet, sweet success) will be this beautiful, impossible-to-photograph aqua-y, greenish, sea-esque beauty. I've never knitted with Lorna's Laces before, so I'm looking forward to that. Still on the hunt for my go-to sock yarn.